Young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

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

You should write at least 250 words.


Model Answer:

In many countries students prefer to take a year off after finishing their school and then get engaged either in jobs or travel to enhance their experiences before starting their university education. In many ways, this is a great opportunity to improve the experience and skill and on the contrary there are some negative aspects of this as well.

First of all, taking a year off and then doing jobs before starting university education gives the students a perfect opportunity to learn about the job sectors. This in terms of learning about the practical works, job environment, other colleagues, and challenges in executing tasks is a very important experience that would prepare those students to become better leaders in job sectors. The study environment and job environment are not same and those students would be better prepared for the future. Those who decide to travel instead of getting involved in jobs also learn about different cultures, meet many new people and are better prepared to interact with others.

Then, students who have practical job experience would do better in their university education because they would be able to relate the educational aspects with the practical world. They would be more focused on education and their interpersonal skill would be much better. Finally, traveling and practical job experiences are two vital aspects that could not be gained in any other ways. There are other benefits of this trend as well including: gaining self-confidence, improving social interactions etc. those skills are important for future generations who would lead the future.

On the flip-side of the coin, there are some negative aspects of taking gaps amid of education years. First of all, not all students can manage the necessary expenses to travel and they might spend the time in unproductive way. The students who take leaves from their education might find it difficult to get back to the harmony of continuing the education. In is not uncommon among students not to return to university as they start earning money. To ensure a better generation, some people discard the idea of taking leaves and emphasize on continuing education and in fact they have their reason to believe that.

In conclusion, if the gap taken from educational institutes to get involved in jobs or to travel different countries is spent wisely, it would bring more benefits than drawbacks. This important aspect should be decided based on a student’s academic performance, economic condition, adherence to education and the future prospect of it.