Write at least 250 words · 40 minutes
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Ideas to get you started
- Free entry encourages people from all backgrounds to learn about culture
- Museums need income to maintain collections and buildings
- Charging tourists but not local residents is a possible compromise
A plan for this question
- Introduction: paraphrase the question and give your position: free for residents, especially children and students, but tourists can reasonably pay.
- Body 1: why free entry matters: culture for everyone, regular visits by poorer families and schools, short visits; the UK example.
- Body 2: the cost of running museums, and your compromise: charge visitors from abroad, raise money through exhibitions, shops and donations.
- Conclusion: restate how far you agree.
Model essay
263 words
Whether museums and galleries should charge for entry is a common debate. I agree that they should be free for local residents, especially children and students, but I believe it is reasonable to charge international tourists.
Free entry has important benefits for society. Museums hold a nation’s history, art and science, and everyone should have the chance to learn from them, not only those who can afford a ticket. When entry is free, families on low incomes can visit regularly, teachers can take classes without asking parents for money, and people can drop in for half an hour rather than feeling that they must stay all day to get their money’s worth. When the national museums in the United Kingdom stopped charging in 2001, visitor numbers rose sharply. Free museums therefore play an important part in education, not only in tourism.
On the other hand, museums are expensive to run. Ancient objects and paintings need careful conservation, buildings must be maintained and staff must be paid. If museums receive no money from visitors, either the taxpayer must cover the full cost or standards will fall. A sensible compromise is to charge visitors from abroad, who are often happy to pay as part of their holiday, while keeping entry free for residents. Museums can also raise money through special exhibitions, cafés, shops and donations.
In conclusion, I largely agree that museums should be free, because culture and history should be accessible to everyone in a society. However, asking international tourists to pay a fee would help museums meet their costs without excluding local people.
Written by Acedmi to show what a high-band essay looks like. It is not an official IELTS sample, and your own ideas can be different.
Useful vocabulary
- free of charge
- Without having to pay.
- “Entry is free of charge for children.”
- admission / entry fee
- Money you pay to go in.
- “The gallery has no admission fee.”
- accessible
- Easy for everyone to reach or use.
- “Culture should be accessible to all.”
- drop in
- Visit briefly, without planning.
- “Free entry lets people drop in after work.”
- conservation
- Protecting old objects from damage.
- “Conservation of paintings is expensive.”
- compromise
- A solution in which each side gets part of what it wants.
- “Charging tourists is a fair compromise.”
- donation
- Money given to help an organisation.
- “Visitors can leave a donation at the door.”
- get your money’s worth
- Get enough value for what you paid.
- “With a ticket, people stay all day to get their money’s worth.”
Common mistakes
- Not saying how far you agree. "To what extent" needs a clear answer, even a partial one.
- Describing museums you have visited instead of giving reasons.
- Ignoring the cost argument. A strong essay deals with the main objection.
What the examiner marks
Four criteria, equally weighted: Task Response (answer every part of the question with a clear position), Coherence and Cohesion (logical paragraphs and linking), Lexical Resource (range and accuracy of vocabulary) and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. An essay under 250 words loses marks for Task Response.