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ielts writing

IELTS essay, topic: Some people like to own their home while others prefer to rent it (discuss)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 6 Academic book, Practice Test 30

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people like to own the place where they live, but other people like to rent where they live. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

The debate over whether it is better to own or rent the property in which one lives is one that has strong supporters on each side. There are persuasive arguments for both points of view.

One of the main advantages of renting a property is flexibility. Usually, a tenant only has to give a month’s notice before changing where he or she lives. If a property is owned and a change is needed, the property must be put onto the market and it is frequently a long and stressful process to get a sale completed. Sometimes, the wrong time of year or a bad market can mean that a sale is not possible. Another advantage of renting is that a large amount of a family’s capital is not tied up in the property. Property can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and often a lot more. If one rents, this money can be spent on other things to help improve the family’s quality of life. If the property is on a mortgage, then the deposit, also often very large, is tied up in the property and the pressure of having to make substantial payments every month can cause a lot of stress.

Owning a property does have various advantages, though. Even though people usually have to service a mortgage every month with payments, this money is then built up with the property. With renting, the money is lost to the landlord, but at the end of the term of the mortgage, the whole property is owned by the family. This makes the process of living in a property a type of investment. In addition, the property’s value often goes up after time, frequently creating a substantial profit. Owning the property where one lives can also create a sense of well-being and self-actualisation.

The decision to whether one rents or owns the property in which one lives really boils down to individual preference. My opinion is that it is much more preferable to own a property, mainly because it creates a valuable asset for the family.

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IELTS Report, topic: Double line graph of lengths of hospital stay (from IELTS High Scorer’s Choice series, Academic Set 4)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 4 Academic book, Practice Test 17

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the average length of stay last year (in days) for serious injuries for different age groups in private and public hospitals in Queensland, Australia.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

Last Year’s Average Length of Stay at Private and Public Hospitals for Serious Injuries – Queensland, Australia
Double line graph of lengths of hospital stay (from IELTS High Scorer's Choice series, Academic Set 4 book)

Sample Band 9 Report

The graph provides two sets of statistics regarding the differing lengths of stays last year for patients with serious injuries in private and public hospitals in Queensland, Australia. The information is given for age groups for every four years of age.

Overall, it is clear that last year public hospitals stays were longer than stays at private hospitals across all age groups, with only one exception. The average lengths of stay were, however, very similar in trend in terms of how the stays rose and dropped.

The figures for public hospitals begin for the age group zero to four years. The lengths of stay go up very sharply and steadily from this age group, starting at around four days up to just under sixty days for the age group twenty-five to twenty-nine. There is then a sharp and steady drop to just over forty days to the age group thirty-five to thirty-nine. There is a more sharp increase to approximately fifty-seven days for the next age group and then there is a decrease in the length of hospital stays. This drop is sharp to start with, but slows down from the age group fifty to fifty-four years (around twenty-seven days) to eighty-five years plus (around eighteen days).

The figures for private hospitals follow a similar trend. The figures begin with the age group fifteen to nineteen years. They show a rise to a peak at the age group twenty-five to twenty-nine, the same peak age group for public hospitals. There is then a mostly steady drop in the length of hospital stay until the eighty-five years age group, where the length of stay is the same as the stay at public hospitals (around eighteen days). This is the only average length of stay that is the same for the public and private hospitals. The average length of stay is always larger in the age groups at public hospitals.

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