Employment after prison: match support to the barrier

Explain obstacles to obtaining work, then connect public-service and employer responses to those obstacles without promising a universal result.

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Browse problems / causes and solutions Browse Band 7 study goals

Study the method: Problems, causes and solutions: match the response to the question →

Worked example: Match a proposed response to an employment barrier →

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Band 7 goal: Cause–solution links

Develop and connect relevant ideas or select and compare the most useful details. This is a study route, not an examiner score assigned to the answer. How IELTS Writing is assessed.

The question

Some people who have served a prison sentence struggle to find stable employment after their release. Why might this happen, and what could employers and public services do to help them find suitable work?

The sample answer

Finding stable employment after a prison sentence can be difficult for some people, even when they want to work. Two possible obstacles are a lack of recent work experience and employers’ reluctance to consider their applications. Public services can help people demonstrate relevant skills, while employers can make decisions based on the requirements of a particular job.

First, time away from employment may leave a person without an up-to-date reference or experience of current workplace practices. For instance, an applicant who previously worked in a warehouse might be unfamiliar with the stock-control system now used by local firms. A capable candidate could therefore struggle to show that they are ready for the available role. A second barrier may arise before their skills are considered at all: an employer might reject an application simply because the person has a criminal record. These are different obstacles, and it would be misleading to assume that everyone leaving prison has the same training needs.

Public employment services could begin by reviewing each jobseeker’s experience and identifying any specific gap. Relevant training or supervised work experience could then provide current evidence of ability, rather than requiring everyone to repeat the same general course. Employers, in turn, could assess applicants individually against the demands of the post, considering recent training and references alongside any role-related concerns. This would allow relevant evidence to influence the decision without removing appropriate safety checks or guaranteeing a job. Such support also depends on suitable vacancies: a better application cannot create work that does not exist.

In conclusion, interrupted work experience and decisions based on a record alone may both restrict access to employment after prison. Targeted preparation and fair assessment can address these barriers together. The aim should be a realistic opportunity to demonstrate suitability, rather than an automatic appointment or a promise that employment will resolve every difficulty after release.

Cause–solution links

How the answer works

1. Identify the problem and the two requested parts
The opening identifies causes and responses, keeping the focus on finding work after release. It does not replace the question with a general debate about whether prison is effective.
2. Develop two possible barriers
The warehouse example is hypothetical. The paragraph distinguishes a possible skills-evidence gap from a screening decision and avoids treating all former prisoners as unskilled.
3. Match both actors to practical responses
Training responds to the first barrier; individual assessment responds to the second. Both named actors receive an action and a mechanism, with suitable vacancies and safeguards retained as limits.
4. Bring the matched explanation together
The conclusion links the proposed responses to the explained barriers. It answers the employment question without inventing a guaranteed reduction in crime or a universal entitlement to a role.

Apply the assessment criteria

Use these notes to check whether each part of the question receives a developed answer. Then compare how a short reason can become a supported point.

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Vocabulary in context

Each phrase appears in the answer above. Learn how it works, not just a replacement word.

recent work experience: Practical experience of employment gained within a relatively short time.
Use recent to explain the evidence gap; it does not mean the applicant has never held a job.
assess applicants individually: Consider each person using evidence relevant to their own circumstances.
The phrase supports role-based assessment while the following sentence retains appropriate safety checks.
suitable vacancies: Available jobs whose requirements and conditions fit the situation being discussed.
Vacancies are a limit on the proposal: improving an application does not guarantee that a suitable job exists.

Now make it your own

Choose one barrier from the answer and write a four-sentence paragraph naming an actor, a concrete action, how it changes that barrier and one remaining limit. Then explain why offering the same training to every applicant may leave a screening barrier unresolved.

For a smaller practice step, use the explanation, knowledge check and self-review exercise in Answer the question you were given.

The practice link opens the original question, not a copy of this answer.

Open the writing workspace

Employment after prison: match support to the barrier

The question

The sample answer

Vocabulary in context

Now make it your own

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