You should spend about 40 minutes on IELTS writing task 2.
In order to study at university students are required to pay expensive tuition fees. Not all students can afford them so some people think that university education should be free for everyone. To what extent do you agree?
Give specific reason and explain them with examples from your own experience or knowledge.
You should write at least 250 words in IELTS writing task 2.
Question Overview
Topic : Education Type : Opinion Essay
Model Answer (Balanced Approach)
Fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable for everyone so according to some university should be free for all people, regardless of their background. In my opinion, offering everyone free university education would be problematic and, therefore, should only be offered to certain individuals.
Having free university education for everyone would put a tremendous financial strain on a country. Universities would have no income from fees and, consequently, they would rely completely on the state for funding. Doing this means taking funds from other much needed areas, such as the health system, in order to allocate money to universities. For the majority of countries, particularly developing and underdeveloped countries, this would not be a financially viable option.
Another point to consider is that offering all people free tertiary education would tempt many people to enter university whether they were interested or not. In other words, rather than choosing to get a job, some young people would opt for doing a degree to which they would only half-heartedly apply themselves. This would not only be a waste of a country’s finances but also a waste of human resources.
Finally, the best solution would be to keep university fees but still offer some free places to gifted students from poor backgrounds. This would ensure that talented, intelligent students who cannot afford to pay for higher education would still get educated and trained. As a result, society would benefit by getting the right people trained and valuable financial resources would not be wasted.
In conclusion, abolishing university fees is not feasible for most countries but offering free places to particular students who have limited financial means is a much better use of a country’s resources.
Model Answer (One-sided Approach)
Fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable for everyone so according to some university should be free for all people regardless of their background. In my opinion, I agree that university education ought to be free as it will greatly benefit both individuals and society.
A good reason to abolish university fees is that it gives people whether they are rich or poor equal rights. At present, students from a poor background are prevented from entering university because they are unable to afford the fees. This excludes a large proportion of society and is discriminatory which can be avoided by getting rid of tuition fees.
Another point to consider is that having no fees at university means that students will no longer have to work at the same time as studying to cover their costs. For example, around three quarters of all students in the UK have to work either full-time or part-time while studying at university to pay their fees. Free higher education should, therefore, produce better results as students will be able to afford to apply themselves to their studies exclusively.
Finally, free university education will benefit society in the long run, for the simple reason that it will open up higher education to a wider section of the population. This will result in increasing the number of educated people. In other words, having a greater resource of skilled and knowledgeable professionals will bring greater rewards to society as a whole. Moreover, it can bring more economic advantages to a country that shows itself to be prosperous and leading in various fields.
In conclusion, free university education is a must for any country that values equal rights and one that wishes to advance. The cost of free education will be recouped many times over by the benefit it brings.
In order to study at university students are required to pay expensive tuition fees
Fees for higher education are expensive and not affordable for everyone so according to some university should be free for all people, regardless of their background. In my opinion, offering everyone free university education would be problematic and, therefore, should only be offered to certain individuals. Having free university education for everyone would put a tremendous financial strain on a country. Universities would have no income from fees and, consequently, they would rely completely on the state for funding. Doing this means taking funds from other much needed areas, such as the health system, in order to allocate money to universities. For the majority of countries, particularly developing and underdeveloped countries, this would not be a financially viable option. Another point to consider is that offering all people free tertiary education would tempt many people to enter university whether they were interested or not. In other words, rather than choosing to get a job, some young people would opt for doing a degree to which they would only half-heartedly apply themselves. This would not only be a waste of a country’s finances but also a waste of human resources.
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