Here's your IELTS Writing Task 2 composition title...

1. In some countries, it is considered a good idea to spend at least a year working or travelling before beginning university. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Part of the essay can reflect your personal experience - explaining why you had/didn't have a "gap year" (or are planning/not planning to have one). The bulk of the essay, however, should focus on the advantages and disadvatages in the general sense.

Introduction

 Briefly explain your personal relationship to this topic in the practical sense.

Body paragraph 1

 Describe the practical benefits of beginning studies later: students better able to look after themselves, less homesick etc.

Body paragraph 2

 Describe the mental benefits: students more confident and experienced.

Body paragraph 3

 Describe the disadvantages: financial factors, and the possibility of losing the habit of study.

Conclusion

 Explain the effect of having/not having a gap year for yourself, and give your general opinion of whether or not the gap year is a major benefit.

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Introduction

I should perhaps begin by explaining that in my country it is not common to spend a year working or travelling before entering higher education. Despite having no direct experience of this custom, however, I can certainly see a number of advantages.

Body paragraph 1

For students studying far from their homes, homesickness can be a significant problem, even affecting their ability to study in the most serious cases. In addition, suddenly having to take responsibility for their own lives can come as a shock, with some students experiencing difficulties with basic tasks such as cooking, cleaning and organizing finances for themselves. Travelling or working might have helped such students to become accustomed to looking after themselves and organising their own lives.

Body paragraph 2

A secondary benefit of a “gap year”, as I believe it is called, is that the extra year may help some develop socially and intellectually. I started university a few weeks after my eighteenth birthday, and looking back I think I was very immature in many ways. I was certainly quite shy. A year later I was more confident in my own abilities, and it might have been better to wait until that point to begin my studies. Travelling or working would undoubtedly have boosted my self-confidence, too.

Body paragraph 3

The main disadvantage I can see is financial. Travelling would of course be a major expense, and jobs for 18 and 19-year-olds are very hard to find in my country. The sooner a young person graduates, the sooner he/she can start earning his/her own living rather than relying on family support. Another possible disadvantage is that it might be difficult to get back into the habit of studying after such a long break.

Conclusion

Although I personally might have benefited from a gap year, I think those benefits would have been relatively minor. I have no regrets about going straight from school to university.
310 words