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.

There are nations in which school leavers are encouraged to take a gap year before commencing tertiary studies.  This essay discusses the merits and demerits of taking a break between secondary and tertiary education.

There are two main benefits of taking a gap year. To start with it will broaden a young person’s horizons and help them to have a clear future path.  A school leaver often has limited life experience and may lack commitment.  After a gap year, a person is often empowered and is more committed to success at university as they have seen first-hand the consequences of failure.  Another factor is that graduates after have limited life and work experience.  Those who have had a gap year will have had the opportunity to develop essential soft skills and will adapt to the working environment a lot easier.

However, there are two main drawbacks. The first of these is that it will be a lot harder for a young person to return to the rigours of study life after having had a long break.  Once they start studying they will be committed to study deadlines and having to undertake constant study.  In contrast to the freedom, they may have had during their gap year.  As well as this, they will now be a year behind their former classmates.  This means that they will still be at university whilst their peers have already graduated and have commenced their internships.

In conclusion, the main benefits of a gap year include a greater commitment to subsequent studies and improved job prospects upon graduation. The drawbacks are that it may be hard to return to study life and the gap year could be considered a waste of time. In my opinion, I believe every individual is different and it should be an individual choice.
301 words.

More model answers:
www.ieltsanswers.com/ielts-writing-essay-questions.html