General Task 2 · Causes and evaluation
A longer working life
An original IELTS practice question with a planning route and a sample answer to learn from.
Aim for at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. Suggested practice level: advanced, not a predicted band.
Your writing task
In some countries, people are expected to work until a later age than in the past. What are the reasons for this change, and do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
How to approach this question
Explain why the change happens and evaluate it separately. Answer both parts explicitly.
Reasons and evaluation: positive/negative and outweigh questions →
Work essays: distinguish location, weekly hours and career length →
Possible reasons: longer lives and pressure on pension funding can encourage later retirement. Explain the mechanism without assuming that all older workers are equally healthy.
Evaluation: experienced staff can continue contributing, but physically demanding work may become harder. Weigh benefits and drawbacks while considering flexibility for different occupations.
These are possible directions, not required opinions or facts to memorise. Develop your own response and check every claim against the task.
A possible plan
- Introduction: identify the change and your overall judgement.
- Body 1: explain the reasons for the change with a plausible example.
- Body 2: evaluate whether it is positive or negative, or whether its advantages outweigh its disadvantages, as the question requires.
- Conclusion: answer both the causes question and the evaluation question.
Vocabulary you can use precisely
Choose language that fits your meaning. You do not need to include every phrase.
- retirement age
- The age at which people are expected or entitled to stop working.
A higher retirement age can affect occupations in different ways.
- retain experienced staff
- Keep workers who have accumulated useful knowledge and skills.
Flexible hours may help employers retain experienced staff.
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