Some students take a year off between school and university – IELTS Writing Task 2 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay

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Some students take a year off between school and university – IELTS Writing Task 2 Advantage/Disadvantage Essay
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Zuhana

Zuhana

Nafia Zuhana is an experienced content writer and IELTS Trainer. Currently, she is guiding students who are appearing for IELTS General and Academic exams through ieltsmaterial.com. With an 8.5 score herself, she trains and provides test takers with strategies, tips, and nuances on how to crack the IELTS Exam. She holds a degree in Master of Arts – Creative Writing, Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has worked with The Hindu for over a year as an English language trainer.

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11 Comments

peggy h

Posted on May 8, 2022

It’s a trend that a number of students opt to take a “gap year” before stepping into university life. While there are still some drawbacks when they make this decision, I firmly believe that taking a year off is beneficial overall.

On the one hand, students may encounter some difficulties when having the year off. Firstly of all, It’s necessary for them to think before leap, otherwise, their time becomes worthless without an organized plan. Secondly, gap-year takers may face the challenge to familiar with the knowledge again when they back to school. Last but not least, students might also take a risk on safety issues. For instance, I had a friend who took a gap year and started traveling in Europe. Due to her carefulness, she got rubbery when wandering on the street. Unfortunately, when chasing the thief, she not only got severe injuries but also lost her wallet and passport in the meantime.

On the other hand, there are several merits to spending a year working or traveling before joining a university. The main benefit students can discover their “real enthusiasm” during the time. Taking myself as an example, I felt quite regretful that I didn’t have sufficient time to think about what I was truly eager to pursue as a career at university. In addition, another positive aspect is that young people could build their maturity and become more independent. The final advantage of taking a year off is they could learn different languages, perspectives, and lifestyles which could make them become more open-minded.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that the trend of taking a gap year is worthy, if they are able to deal with the difficulties and prepare themselves properly before they start.

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kasturika

kasturika

Posted on May 9, 2022

Band Score – 5

Concentrate on the correct usage of articles and verb forms.

Put the side you are supporting in the beginning. Like, you are for the advantages, so place it first.

Some ideas lack expression. Learn error-free sentence formation.

Pay attention to spellings and word order in a sentence.

Use C2 level of words.

surabhi

Posted on Nov 16, 2021

Nowadays, it has become more common to find students going to various places and getting involved in part-time jobs after completing their school education and before beginning higher studies. Even though such kind of independent working experience inculcates a sense of responsibility in these youngsters, it may also serve as a permanent distraction from studies. This essay will discuss both the merits as well as the demerits of this trend for young students.
To begin with, attaining a sense of responsibility is quite significant for the students who have finished school, as the period between school and the beginning of college is one of immense change. These adolescents will soon be advancing towards adulthood where they will no longer want to stay dependent on their parents, therefore getting a little working experience might prove quite helpful before they reach that stage. In addition to that, most of the students do not realise the value of money while they are at school, and they may go on to have a tendency of over-indulging in unnecessary luxuries during their university studies, which in turn might create financial difficulties for those parents who are struggling even to finance their education. Consequently, this exposure not only makes teenagers more financially responsible but also helps them in preparing for the real world as they have to resolve on their own the problems they come across during this time.
However, this development does not come without demerits, a permanent distance from education being one of them. The period of change from schooling to superior studies can be overwhelming for young students, they might be nervous about beginning this new and very different phase of life, hence it is possible that the immediate financial benefits and the independent lifestyle that come with part-time jobs serve as distractors for them, making them feel more at ease than the thought of putting efforts in consummating higher studies and they might get deviated from their original, real long-term professional goals. As a consequence, this trend might result in permanent destruction of these students’ educational lives and dream careers.
To conclude, it can be stated that working before beginning college certainly offers some benefits for young people, but one cannot overlook the tremendous drawbacks that this trend poses.

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Janice Thompson

Janice Thompson

Posted on Nov 18, 2021

Band score: 5

Concentrate on word order. “more financially responsible” is wrong
Cohesion: Concentrate on linkers of addition.
Learn collocations: Superior studies is not a synonym of higher studies
The second para has a very long sentence which could have been broken down into smaller sentences.

Nhi

Posted on Nov 2, 2021

In today’s modern world, many high school seniors consider deferring university enrollment after their graduation to spend one year off school. There are many controversies about this topic but I believe that the benefits of taking a gap year would prevail over the drawbacks in the long term.

On the one hand, a student who spends one year off school can encounter several difficulties. Delaying tertiary education for one year can make students be unable to attach themselves to their study, lose momentum and a habit of doing homework after fishing classes everyday. For example, if a student uses a year to work as a waiter, he or she will spend all the day at the restaurant upselling for the customers and have no time for improving his or her knowledge and even he or she can forget some important information which is taught at school because of no reviewing. Moreover, after spending one year off school, gap-year takers come back to pursue college, they may not only receive more pressure from their peers but also drain self-confidence.

On the other hand, I am convinced that the aforementioned disadvantages pale in comparison with the significant advantages of delaying their university study for one year. First of all, many students spend one year travelling to a different country and experiencing an alien culture for practising a new language regularly and improving this quickly because they can make a conversation with the locals anytime they want, others may devote their time to a charity for helping the disabled. It’s also a common choice to choose an entry-level job at many different vocations. For instance, many students have not had an idea for their study at the university because of the inadequate career guidance at school so they often defer university education for identifying the most suitable career path for them by experiencing whatever job they like. Regardless of choosing to have done something for this list, they can enrich life experience and hone practical skills that can be a need for their future job. Secondly, taking a gap year also helps them to relieve stress and enjoy a comfortable time during 12 years of studying. Also, a student can study and acquire knowledge more effectively. Last but not least, because of their socio-economic background, many gap-year takers often use their time to make money to cover higher education tuition.

In conclusion, while spending one year off school without certain drawbacks, I would contend that the given benefits make it become a worthwhile path.

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Janice Thompson

Janice Thompson

Posted on Nov 3, 2021

Overall band: 6

Concentrate on sentence formation. Some long sentences lack clarity in grammar, especially tenses.

Aniket

Posted on Oct 25, 2021

The modern technology has witnessed dramatic changes over the last few decades. Generally, it is becoming hard to cope up with the information bombarded everyday on an individual. Processing the information and day to day updates altogether have created a complicated and diverse curriculum which becomes quite intimidating, due to which we often see some students taking breaks in the educational journey to free there mind or learn skills to take a leap. While taking gaps in education can benefit when seen through a larger picture, while there will be drawbacks as well, but mostly the gaps can overall improve a person’s well being mentally and physically and enhance there connection with the real world.

Most of the scholars today, take a year off from there curriculum to gain the practical industrial knowledge. For instance, many students take up internships, part time jobs in companies so that they can be job ready. Adding intern experiences in the resume can easily boost there resume and show there knowledge on specific sets of skills. Furthermore, gaps can help students to disconnect from the virtual world and explore different places around the globe. One study suggests that travelling can improve brain activity by activating certain chemicals that boost the neurons growth in brain and make the brain healthy. Overall, taking off from semesters aids scholars both physically and mentally.

On the contrary, breaks are often seen as failures to some extent. Mostly, in some countries like India where I have seen employers treating breaks as failures and questioned the students degree. Moreover, in case of higher studies some universities do not intake newcomers with gaps in there undergraduate or bachelor’s. Secondly, it can break focus from the curriculum. As, from the personal experiences I have seen that if I take breaks for something even for a week I tend to forget about it as I lose connection from it. Mostly as humans, it is one natural thing that happens everytime. Hence, it can hamper the learning curve.

To sum up, breaks can help students to gain more industrial knowledge and relax there mind through means of travelling, either way they learn more about life and something new which can easily outweigh the disadvantages when seen from the long term perspective.

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Janice Thompson

Janice Thompson

Posted on Oct 25, 2021

Overall band: 5.0

Grammar:
You seem to confused with homophones ” their” and “there”. Please learn the difference.
their = belonging to them
there = not here
they’re = they are

Also work on subject verb agreement and tenses.

Aman

Posted on Aug 17, 2021

It has been found that usually, a gap year is taken by some students after finishing their secondary education so they can work or travel. The students who take the gap to work would be able to choose the right course comfortably and confidently for further study, whereas those who choose to travel may discontinue their education. I believe that all students should have a chance to do whatever they want even though some of them would decide not to study more later.
Firstly, those students who want to take a year off to do work of their choice will be self-confident while selecting the program to study further, because when students focus on something they want to, for the period of one year, they will eventually get to know the right field of their preference. For instance, I have never used the computer till my high school was over, even though I always wanted to. So I took a year off to work on computers. Consequently, I got interested in computer programming, which subsequently led me to choose an IT course in the university without any doubt.
On the other hand, students who take a gap year to travel may lose interest in the study. As a consequence, they might choose to end their study. To illustrate, I had a friend who took the gap and started traveling. He continued his journey even after the one-year gap was over. Subsequently, he started working with his father.
To conclude, in modern times many students take the gap year to work or travel. The gap can be beneficial for students who choose to work as well as it may become the reason for other students to leave the further study. Still, I think that students must have an opportunity to explore the field of their choice even if some students would want not to start study again.

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Janice Thompson

Janice Thompson

Posted on Aug 20, 2021

Overall band : 7.0

Cohesion: Try not repeating the cohesive devices.

Badria Kambal

Posted on Jan 8, 2020

Badriakambal1111@gmail .com

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