Task 2 · Positive or negative development · Government
Private companies running public services
A positive-or-negative essay on outsourcing, where the band 9 answer judges each service by whether its quality can be written into a contract.
The question
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
In many countries, services that were once run by the state, such as prisons, railways and rubbish collection, are now operated by private companies under government contracts. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?
A 250-word discursive essay — the half of the paper that carries two thirds of the marks. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.
What separates the three answers
The 6.5 sets private efficiency against private profit; the 7.5 sees that competition disciplines a firm only when its contract can be taken away; the 9 asks whether a service's quality can be written into a contract at all, which explains why rubbish collection outsources well and a prison does not.
The three answers
Band 6.5
266 words (the task asks for at least 250)The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.
The answer
In recent years, many governments have gave the control of public services3 like prisons, railways and rubbish collection to private companies. Some people think this is a good idea, but others strongly disagree with it. In my opinion, this is a negative development for most of the services.
On the one hand, there are some positive points of private companies.2 They are usually more efficient than the government, because they want to make profit and they do not want to waste money. For example, a private company can collect the rubbish faster and with less workers, so the government can save money. Also, private companies can bring new technology and new ideas, which the government departments often do not have.
On the other hand, the main aim of private company is to make profit, not to help the people. For this reason, they may reduce the quality of service to save money. For instance, in private prisons the company may employ less guards and give the prisoners poor food, which can cause the violence4. In the railways, the ticket prices can become very high, so the poor people cannot afford to travel to their work. Moreover, if the company go bankrupt, the service will stop and the government has to take it back, which cost a lot of money5.
In conclusion, although private companies can be more efficient, I believe that important public services like prisons and railways should be run by the government, because profit should not be more important than people's welfare. However, simple services like rubbish collection can be given to private companies.1
What an examiner notices
1. Task response
“However, simple services like rubbish collection can be given to private companies.”
The essay's best idea, and it arrives in the last sentence. Why rubbish collection differs from a prison is exactly the question the body paragraphs needed to answer.
2. Coherence and cohesion
“On the one hand, there are some positive points of private companies.”
A template opening that announces a category instead of making a claim. The paragraph then lists benefits of private companies in general, not of private prisons or railways.
3. Grammatical range and accuracy
“many governments have gave the control of public services”
The past participle is 'given'. An error in the opening line is noticed immediately, even though the meaning is clear.
4. Lexical resource
“the company may employ less guards and give the prisoners poor food, which can cause the violence”
'Fewer' is required with countable nouns, as with 'less workers' in the previous paragraph, and 'the violence' takes an article it does not need.
5. Grammatical range and accuracy
“if the company go bankrupt, the service will stop and the government has to take it back, which cost a lot of money”
Two agreement errors in one sentence, 'the company go' and 'which cost'. The idea — that a failed contractor leaves the state to pick up the bill — is a good one, but it is stated rather than explored.
One honest caveat
Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.
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