IELTS Essay Bank · Task 2 Academic · Positive or negative
Automation of Factory Work: Band 8 Sample Essay
322 words · Topic: Technology, Work & careers ·
The question
Robots and automated machines are carrying out an increasing share of the work in factories that was once done by human hands.
Is this increasing automation of manufacturing a positive or negative development?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Band 8 sample essay
Highlighted = useful vocabularyThe steady replacement of human labour by robots on the factory floor is often portrayed as a threat, and for individual workers it can certainly feel like one. Nevertheless, I would argue that the automation of manufacturing is a largely positive development, provided that the transition is managed so that its gains are shared rather than concentrated.
The most tangible advantage is economic. Industrial robots do not tire, lose concentration or demand overtime pay, so they can maintain a consistent standard of output around the clock. This drives down production costs, and in competitive markets those savings tend to reach consumers as cheaper goods. Automation also allows high-wage countries to keep manufacturing at home rather than relocating it overseas; Germany and South Korea, both among the most heavily automated economies in the world, have retained substantial industrial sectors partly for this reason.
A second benefit, and arguably a more important one, concerns the nature of the work itself. Much traditional factory labour was monotonous, physically punishing and hazardous. Delegating repetitive and dangerous tasks to machines spares workers from injury and exhaustion, while the jobs that remain — programming, maintaining and supervising automated systems — tend to be more skilled and better paid.
The strongest objection is that automation destroys livelihoods, and it should not be dismissed. When a plant replaces hundreds of assembly workers, those affected are often middle-aged, with skills that do not transfer easily, and entire communities can be left without a viable source of employment. Yet past waves of mechanisation suggest that technology reshapes employment more than it eliminates it. The real danger lies not in the machines but in leaving displaced workers to adapt alone, which is why targeted retraining, income support during the transition and investment in affected regions is essential.
In summary, factory automation makes goods cheaper and work safer, and its disruptive effects, while real, are a problem of policy rather than a reason to resist progress.
Word count: 322
Write your own answer → get an AI band score
The same question is ready on its practice page, with a Band 8–9 model answer to compare.
Why this is Band 8: criterion by criterion
Task Response
Band 8The question is fully addressed with a clear and nuanced position — "largely positive", on the condition that the transition is managed — which is sustained to the final sentence. Each main idea is well developed: the economic argument moves from lower costs to consumer prices to the retention of manufacturing in high-wage countries, and the benefit to workers is extended to the kind of jobs that remain. The counter-argument is presented in its strongest form and then answered with specific measures. For Band 9, the claim that technology "reshapes employment more than it eliminates it" would need to be illustrated rather than stated in general terms.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 8Information and ideas are sequenced logically, and every aspect of cohesion is managed well. Paragraphs open with sentences that frame their role in the argument ("The most tangible advantage…", "A second benefit, and arguably a more important one…", "The strongest objection…"), and reference is precise ("This drives down…", "those affected", "for this reason"). The dash-framed list in the third paragraph is integrated smoothly. Paragraphing is sufficient and appropriate, which is characteristic of Band 8.
Lexical Resource
Band 8A wide range of vocabulary is used fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings: "drives down production costs", "spares workers from injury and exhaustion", "a viable source of employment", "destroys livelihoods". Less common items are handled skilfully, including "physically punishing", "relocating it overseas" and "a problem of policy rather than a reason to resist progress". There are no spelling or word-formation errors; only a slightly more varied choice in place of the repeated "workers" separates this from Band 9.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Band 8A wide range of structures is used with flexibility and control: a conditional clause of purpose ("provided that the transition is managed so that…"), a semicolon linking a claim to its evidence, participle and verbless clauses ("both among the most heavily automated economies"), and a "not … but" contrast. The great majority of sentences are error-free. There is one agreement slip: "targeted retraining, income support … and investment … is essential" should be are essential, the kind of very occasional error that Band 8 allows.
Useful vocabulary and collocations
- around the clock
- continuously, day and night; a natural idiom for machine productivity.
- drives down production costs
- reduces what it costs to make goods; drive down is a strong verb collocation with costs and prices.
- repetitive and dangerous tasks
- concise way to describe the work most suited to automation.
- a viable source of employment
- a realistic, sustainable way to earn a living; viable adds precision.
- displaced workers
- employees who lose their jobs because of structural or technological change.
How this essay could reach Band 9
- 1Replace the general statement about past mechanisation with one brief, concrete illustration (for example, how employment shifted away from farming as machinery spread), so every claim in the counter-argument is supported.
- 2Correct the one agreement slip (retraining, income support and investment are essential); at Band 9 errors occur only as rare "slips".
- 3Vary the key nouns a little more (employees, the workforce, staff) so that the lexical range feels as wide as the grammatical range.
This is an original sample essay written by IELTS-Bank to illustrate Band 8 against the public IELTS Writing band descriptors. The band scores are our assessment, not an official IELTS result. IELTS-Bank is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, or Cambridge University Press & Assessment. "IELTS" is a registered trademark of its respective owners and is used here for descriptive purposes only.