IELTS Task 2 sample essay: Free University Education
OpinionEducation
The question
Some people believe university education should be free for all students. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Try writing your own answer first, then compare. Reading a model before you write tends to make you copy it.
The plan
Position: Largely agree: free for all, with a condition on continuing study.
- Fees deter able students from poorer families, narrowing who becomes a doctor or engineer.
- The cost returns through a more skilled workforce and higher tax revenue.
Model answer
284 wordsSome argue that university education should be provided free of charge to every student. I largely agree, because removing fees widens access to the professions, and the public cost is repaid through a more skilled workforce.
The strongest argument for free tuition is fairness of opportunity. When degrees are expensive, the decision to study depends as much on a family's income as on a student's ability. A talented teenager from a low-income household may choose an apprenticeship or an early job simply to avoid debt, while a less able classmate with wealthier parents goes on to train as a doctor. Over time, this narrows the pool from which a country draws its engineers, teachers and nurses, and that is a loss for everyone.
A second reason is that higher education is an investment rather than a gift. Graduates tend to earn more over their working lives, and so they pay more in tax. Countries facing an ageing population also need more highly trained workers in health and technology, and fees discourage exactly the people who could fill those roles. Seen this way, public funding for degrees resembles spending on roads or hospitals: a cost now that supports the economy for decades.
It is true that free tuition places a heavy burden on public budgets, and not every course offers the same return. However, this can be managed by linking continued funding to students passing their exams, rather than by charging fees that exclude people before they begin.
In conclusion, I believe university should be free for all students, because it gives talent rather than wealth the deciding role, and because the cost is recovered through the skills and taxes of the graduates it produces.
Scored by the MyBandPrep checker on 7 October 2026. An estimate, not an examiner’s mark. How scoring works
Why it works
- Task Response
- The position is clear in the introduction and never changes. Each body paragraph develops one reason with a concrete example, and the third paragraph deals with the obvious objection without abandoning the view.
- Coherence and Cohesion
- Each paragraph opens with its main idea. Ideas connect through reference (this, that, those roles) more than through linking words.
- Lexical Resource
- Precise, natural collocations such as “widens access”, “narrows the pool” and “a heavy burden on public budgets”, without forced rare words.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- A range of complex structures (when-clauses, relative clauses, “seen this way”) used accurately throughout.
Phrases worth reusing
- widens access to the professions
- fairness of opportunity
- narrows the pool
- an investment rather than a gift
- places a heavy burden on public budgets
Compare: a band 6 version
235 wordsThe same question, answered the way many essays stuck at band 6 are. Read it, then the notes below.
Nowadays, education is very important in our life. Some people think that university education should be free for all students. I agree with this opinion for several reasons.
Firstly, free university education is good for students from poor families. These students do not have enough money, so many of them cannot go to university even if they are clever. If university is free, they can study and get a good job in the future. Moreover, it is good for the country because the country need educated people such as doctors and engineers.
Secondly, education is a basic right for everyone. Every young person should have the same chance to study, and money should not decide their future. In my country, many students have to work part-time because the fees is very expensive, and this has a bad effect on their studies. Furthermore, students which finish university without debt can start their life more easy.
However, some people argue that free university is too expensive for the government. The government have to pay a lot of money for teachers, buildings and equipment, and this money comes from taxes. This is true, but I think the government can find the money because education is an investment for the future.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that university education should be free for all students, because it gives poor students a chance and it is good for the country.
What holds it back
- Grammar errors that do not block meaning but recur: “the country need”, “the fees is”, “students which”, “more easy”, “the government have”.
- The position is clear, but reasons are stated rather than developed: “good for students from poor families” is never followed through to a specific consequence.
- Plain, repeated vocabulary: “good” carries the argument again and again, and “the country” and “students” are repeated rather than varied or referenced.
- Linking is mechanical: Firstly, Moreover, Secondly, Furthermore open sentences whether or not the logic needs them.
- The objection about cost is raised and answered with an assertion (“the government can find the money”) rather than an argument.
- A memorised opener (“Nowadays, education is very important in our life”) that adds nothing.
Now write your own
Answer this question in 40 minutes and get an estimated band with the sentences to fix.