Job satisfaction or a high salary
This is a model answer written to show what a Band 7 response looks like against the marking criteria. It is a worked example, not a graded submission. To see your own band, paste your writing into the free checker.
The prompt
Some people think that when choosing a career, a high salary is the most important factor. Others believe that job satisfaction matters more than the money earned. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Band 7 model answer (251 words)
When people weigh up career options, some chase the largest possible salary while others prioritise work they actually enjoy. Both positions have merit, but I believe job satisfaction is the wiser long-term guide, provided the pay is adequate.
Those who put salary first make a practical argument. Housing, childcare and healthcare are expensive, and a well-paid job removes the financial stress that can poison every other part of life. Money also creates options: a high earner can save aggressively for a decade and then afford to retrain, start a business or work part-time. Seen this way, an unpleasant but lucrative job is simply a temporary price paid for future freedom.
Supporters of job satisfaction reply that the price is higher than it looks. A typical career lasts forty years, and spending that time on work which feels meaningless tends to produce burnout, resentment and even physical illness. People who enjoy their work, by contrast, usually perform better, win promotions and end up respectably paid anyway, because enthusiasm is difficult to fake and easy to reward.
My own view is that the debate presents a false choice at the extremes. Below a certain income, money dominates everything, and satisfaction is a luxury. Once pay covers a decent life, however, each additional pound buys less relief while dissatisfaction keeps charging interest daily.
In conclusion, salary deserves priority until it secures a stable life, but beyond that point job satisfaction matters more, because no pay slip compensates for four decades of dreading Monday morning.
Why this reaches Band 7
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Task Response
Both views receive a full, fair paragraph, and the writer's own position is present from the introduction and sharpened in the fourth paragraph, satisfying every part of the instruction.
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Coherence and Cohesion
The structure view-view-resolution is easy to follow, and phrases such as "Supporters of job satisfaction reply" link the two sides as a genuine debate rather than two unrelated lists.
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Lexical Resource
Flexible, less common wording like "poison every other part of life", "save aggressively" and "dissatisfaction keeps charging interest" shows range beyond memorised phrases.
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Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex conditionals and comparative structures ("each additional pound buys less relief while...") are handled with only minor imperfections.
The one fix to reach Band 7
The classic Band 6 error here is describing both views competently but burying your own opinion in one vague sentence. To reach Band 7, give your position its own reasoning, not just a preference, and connect it back to both views.
Now check your own answer.
Paste your own attempt at this prompt and Examinerly names the single criterion keeping you below your target band, and shows the sentence-level fix. We never inflate your band.
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