IELTS Writing task 2: Too much emphasis is placed on going university for academic education. People should be encouraged to do vocational training, because there is a lack of qualified tradespeople such as electricians or plumbers. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

TOPIC:
Too much emphasis is placed on going university for academic education. People should be encouraged to do vocational training, because there is a lack of qualified tradespeople such as electricians or plumbers. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

ANSWER:

It goes without saying that society always needs a skilled workforce to function. Employees of different professions contribute different to the thriving of the community, and therefore I disagree with the statement that vocational courses should be given anymore weight than before.

There is no doubt that many people consider taking tertiary education instead of a vocational training program to prepare for their future. It is universally accepted that knowledge and qualifications gained from university can help one to have a head start over other candidates when it come to job hunting. In Vietnam, for instance, a majority of high school graduates are content to spend fours to five years more studying at a university with the hope for a bright career ahead. This results in a lack of skilled manual workers such as plumber and electricians in society.

However, if we encourage more people to become blue-collar workers, then there will be a shortage a while-collar workers who may otherwise create more wealth for society. For example, few engineers would mean lower productivity; a dearth of scientists may inhibit scientific discoveries which can provide us with a better life in the future. In contrast, those doing blue-collar jobs may face redundancy when too many applicants complete for the same position. An unbalanced workforce might, therefore, hold society back from development in the long term.

In conclusion, the workforce will adjust itself to carter for the need of the community. If there are too many engineer than necessary, some will take vocational courses to become tradespeople to avoid unemployment.

(260 words, written by Thay Vinh IELTS)

IELTS Writing Task 1 by Simon - Car ownership

The graph below gives information about car ownership in Britain from 1971 to 2007.

The graph shows changes in the number of cars ______ household in Great Britain ______ a period of 36 years.

Overall, car ownership in Britain increased ______ 1971 and 2007. In particular, the number of households with two cars rose, while the number of households ______ a car fell.

In 1971, ______ half of all British households did not have regular use of a car. Around 44% of households had one car, but only about 7% had two cars. It was uncommon for families to own three or more cars, ______ around 2% of households falling into this category.

The one-car household was the most common type from the late 1970’s ______, although there was little change in the ______ for this category. The biggest change was seen in the proportion of households without a car, which fell steadily over the 36-year period ______ around 25% in 2007. In contrast, the proportion of two-car families rose steadily, reaching about 26% in 2007, and the proportion of households with more than two cars rose ______ around 5%.

Fill the gaps in the essay with the following words:

almost, to, figures, per, between, by, over, with, without, onwards

(Source: ielts-simon.com)

IELTS Writing Task 1 by Simon - Water consumption

The graph and table below give information about water use worldwide and water consumption in two different countries.

The charts compare the amount of water used for agriculture, industry and homes around the world, and water use in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is clear that global water needs rose significantly between 1900 and 2000, and that agriculture accounted for the largest proportion of water used. We can also see that water consumption was considerably higher in Brazil than in the Congo.

In 1900, around 500km³ of water was used by the agriculture sector worldwide. The figures for industrial and domestic water consumption stood at around one fifth of that amount. By 2000, global water use for agriculture had increased to around 3000km³, industrial water use had risen to just under half that amount, and domestic consumption had reached approximately 500km³.

In the year 2000, the populations of Brazil and the Congo were 176 million and 5.2 million respectively. Water consumption per person in Brazil, at 359m³, was much higher than that in the Congo, at only 8m³, and this could be explained by the fact that Brazil had 265 times more irrigated land.

(184 words, band 9)

Source: ielts-simon.com

IELTS Writing Task 1 by Simon - Line Graph - UK acid rain emission

The graph below shows UK acid rain emissions, measured in millions of tones, from four different sectors between 1990 and 2007.

I've made the following essay into a gap-fill exercise.

The line graph compares four sectors in ______ of the amount of acid rain emissions that they produced over a period of 17 years in the UK.

It is clear that the total amount of acid rain emissions in the UK ______ ______ between 1990 and 2007. The most ______ decrease was seen in the electricity, gas and water supply sector.

In 1990, around 3.3 million tones of acid rain emissions came from the electricity, gas and water sector. The transport and communication sector was ______ for about 0.7 million tones of emissions, while the domestic sector ______ around 0.6 million tones. Just over 2 million tones of acid rain gases came from other industries.

Emissions from electricity, gas and water supply fell dramatically to only 0.5 million tones in 2007, a ______ of almost 3 million tones. While acid rain gases from the domestic sector and other industries fell gradually, the transport sector ______ a small increase in emissions, ______ a peak of 1 million tones in 2005.

Fill the gaps using these words:

produced, reaching fell, responsible, saw, considerably, terms, drop, dramatic

(source: ielts-simon.com)

IELTS Writing Task 1, Written by Simon - Line Graph - International migration in UK

 International migration in UK

The chart gives information about UK immigration, emigration and net migration between 1999 and 2008.

Both immigration and emigration rates rose over the period shown, but the figures for immigration were significantly higher. Net migration peaked in 2004 and 2007.

In 1999, over 450,000 people came to live in the UK, while the number of people who emigrated stood at just under 300,000. The figure for net migration was around 160,000, and it remained at a similar level until 2003. From 1999 to 2004, the immigration rate rose by nearly 150,000 people, but there was a much smaller rise in emigration. Net migration peaked at almost 250,000 people in 2004.

After 2004, the rate of immigration remained high, but the number of people emigrating fluctuated. Emigration fell suddenly in 2007, before peaking at about 420,000 people in 2008. As a result, the net migration figure rose to around 240,000 in 2007, but fell back to around 160,000 in 2008.

(159 words, written by Simon)

Source: ielts-simon.com