IELTS Writing Task 2 – Band 8.0 Sample

The question of who should pay for higher education has long been a matter of debate. While I accept that cost should never prevent talented young people from studying, I do not believe that university should be completely free for everyone.

It is undeniable that free tuition would bring certain benefits. Students from low-income families would no longer be deterred by high fees or graduate with crippling debts, and society as a whole would gain from a more highly skilled workforce. For instance, several Nordic countries offer tuition-free degrees, and they consistently rank among the best-educated nations in the world.

However, making higher education free for all would place an enormous burden on public finances. The money would have to come from taxes, which means that ordinary workers, many of whom never attended university, would be subsidising graduates who are likely to earn higher salaries later in life. Moreover, when governments must fund unlimited places, universities often suffer from overcrowded lecture halls and a decline in teaching quality. In some countries that abolished fees, class sizes grew so quickly that students struggled to receive individual attention from their lecturers.

A fairer approach would be to combine modest fees with generous financial support. Means-tested grants and scholarships could cover the full cost for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, while income-contingent loans would require graduates to repay only once they earn above a certain threshold. In this way, access would be determined by ability rather than wealth.

In conclusion, although free university education appears attractive at first glance, I believe that a targeted system of financial aid is a more sustainable and equitable solution, as it protects both opportunity and public finances.