Should Voting Be Made Compulsory?
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 question with a model answer of 286 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 40 minutes. Write at least 250 words.
Some people believe that governments should make voting in national elections compulsory, while others argue that voting should remain a personal choice. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Write at least 250 words.
How to approach it
- 01Address BOTH views fully before stating your own opinion
- 02Use real-world examples — Australia and Belgium are well known for compulsory voting
- 03Anticipate counter-arguments and respond to them
- 04Keep your opinion consistent from introduction to conclusion
- 05Use precise civic vocabulary: 'electorate', 'legitimacy', 'turnout'
- 06Avoid one-sided essays — markers penalise an unbalanced 'discuss both views' response
Model answer
286 words in 4 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
Whether citizens should be legally required to vote in national elections is a debate that touches on the balance between democratic participation and individual liberty. While both positions have merit, I believe that compulsory voting, when implemented thoughtfully, strengthens democracy more than it undermines it.
Advocates of compulsory voting argue that it produces governments with genuine democratic legitimacy. In countries such as Australia and Belgium, turnout regularly exceeds ninety percent, which means elected officials must appeal to the entire electorate rather than only to politically active minorities. This tends to moderate political rhetoric, reduce the influence of fringe movements, and ensure that the policy preferences of the poor, the young, and ethnic minorities — groups that typically vote at lower rates — are reflected in the outcome. Mandatory voting also reframes civic engagement as a shared duty, much like jury service or paying taxes, rather than an optional hobby.
Opponents, however, contend that forcing people to vote is incompatible with the very freedoms that democracy is meant to protect. They argue that uninformed or unwilling voters may cast random ballots, distorting results and rewarding candidates with shallow but memorable slogans. Compulsory voting also imposes administrative costs and small fines on individuals who may have principled objections to all available candidates, which can feel coercive in a free society.
In my view, the benefits clearly outweigh these concerns, provided that safeguards are in place. Voters should always have the option to formally lodge a blank or protest ballot, and fines should remain modest. Combined with strong civic education in schools, compulsory voting cultivates the habit of participation and produces parliaments that genuinely mirror the population they represent. Far from undermining liberty, it strengthens the foundations on which liberty rests.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 69 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
5 fewer than the median answer for this task type
12 words at the shortest, 38 at the longest
3 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 22 words and vary by 6.8 words either side of that, running from 12 words to 38. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 11 of the 13 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
3 in total, spread across 2 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
however, while
such as
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 87 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 77 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 3 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Response
Discuss both views fully and present a clear opinion
Coherence & Cohesion
Logical paragraphing with clear topic sentences
Lexical Resource
Civic and political vocabulary used accurately
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
A range of complex structures with high accuracy
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