2025-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 2: Public Health - Band 9 Sample & Analysis

Master public health essays with Band 9 sample, expert analysis, and proven strategies. Perfect your healthcare arguments and vocabulary for IELTS success.

Writing about public health in IELTS essays requires understanding complex healthcare systems, medical terminology, and policy debates. Many students struggle with these topics because they involve scientific concepts, government responsibility discussions, and social welfare arguments that demand sophisticated vocabulary and balanced reasoning.

This comprehensive guide provides a Band 9 sample essay about public health, detailed analysis of successful writing techniques, and expert strategies for tackling any healthcare-related prompt. You'll learn how to develop compelling arguments about disease prevention, healthcare access, government funding, and medical system effectiveness while demonstrating the advanced language skills needed for top band performance.

## Band 9 Sample Essay: Government Responsibility for Public Health

Essay Prompt: Some people believe that individuals are responsible for their own health and should pay for their medical treatment. Others think that governments should provide free healthcare for all citizens. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Band 9 Sample Response:

The question of whether healthcare responsibility lies with individuals or governments represents one of the most significant policy debates in modern society. While proponents of personal responsibility argue that individuals should bear the financial burden of their medical choices, I believe that comprehensive government-funded healthcare systems provide superior outcomes for both public health and economic development.

Those advocating for individual healthcare responsibility present compelling arguments about personal accountability and economic efficiency. Supporters contend that when people pay directly for medical services, they make more thoughtful decisions about preventive care, lifestyle choices, and treatment options. For instance, individuals who must personally finance treatment for lifestyle-related conditions like diabetes or heart disease may be more motivated to maintain healthy diets and exercise regularly. Furthermore, private healthcare systems can potentially reduce government spending burdens, allowing resources to be allocated toward other essential services such as education and infrastructure development.

However, universal government-funded healthcare systems demonstrate superior effectiveness in promoting population health and social equity. Countries like Sweden and Canada, which provide comprehensive public healthcare, consistently rank among the world's healthiest nations with lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy compared to systems with significant private payment requirements. Government healthcare programs can implement large-scale prevention initiatives, such as vaccination campaigns and health education programs, that individual payment systems struggle to coordinate effectively. Additionally, universal healthcare reduces medical bankruptcy risks and ensures that essential treatment remains accessible regardless of economic status, supporting overall social stability and productivity.

From an economic perspective, government-funded healthcare systems often prove more cost-effective than individual payment models. Administrative costs in universal systems typically consume 8-10% of total healthcare spending, compared to 20-30% in private insurance-based systems due to reduced complexity in billing, coverage determination, and profit margins. Moreover, preventive care programs funded through government healthcare can reduce long-term treatment costs by addressing health problems early, before they require expensive emergency interventions or chronic disease management.

The most effective approach combines universal healthcare access with policies encouraging personal health responsibility. Singapore's healthcare system exemplifies this balance by providing comprehensive public healthcare while implementing health promotion incentives and co-payment structures that encourage responsible health behaviors without creating access barriers for vulnerable populations.

In conclusion, while individual responsibility plays an important role in maintaining personal health, comprehensive government-funded healthcare systems provide superior outcomes for population health, economic efficiency, and social equity. The evidence from successful universal healthcare systems demonstrates that government investment in public health generates both immediate medical benefits and long-term economic advantages that benefit entire societies.

(Word Count: 398 words)

## Expert Analysis: What Makes This Essay Band 9

This sample essay achieves Band 9 performance through sophisticated argumentation, precise vocabulary, and comprehensive task response that addresses all prompt requirements while demonstrating exceptional language control.

Task Response Excellence:

The essay fully addresses both viewpoints requested in the prompt while providing a clear personal opinion supported by specific examples and evidence. The writer demonstrates comprehensive understanding of healthcare policy complexity by discussing economic, social, and practical implications of different approaches. Each paragraph contributes meaningfully to the overall argument while maintaining logical progression from individual responsibility arguments through government healthcare benefits to economic analysis and concluding synthesis.

Coherence and Cohesion Mastery:

The essay employs sophisticated linking devices and logical paragraph structure that guides readers smoothly through complex arguments. Transitional phrases like "However, universal government-funded healthcare systems demonstrate" and "From an economic perspective" create seamless connections between contrasting viewpoints while maintaining argumentative clarity. The writer uses appropriate referencing and substitution to avoid repetition while ensuring ideas connect clearly across paragraphs.

Advanced Lexical Resource:

The vocabulary demonstrates precise medical and policy terminology used naturally throughout the discussion. Terms like "preventive care," "vaccination campaigns," "medical bankruptcy," and "chronic disease management" show sophisticated topic-specific knowledge while "administrative costs," "coverage determination," and "co-payment structures" demonstrate understanding of healthcare system economics. The writer successfully integrates complex collocations like "population health and social equity" and "administrative costs in universal systems" without forcing technical language.

### BabyCode Healthcare Writing Excellence

At BabyCode, we've helped over 500,000 students master complex public health topics through systematic vocabulary building and argument development training. Our proven approach transforms challenging healthcare concepts into clear, compelling essays that demonstrate sophisticated understanding while maintaining accessibility and logical flow.

Our expert instructors provide specialized training for medical and policy topics, helping students develop the precise terminology and balanced argumentation skills essential for Band 8+ performance in healthcare essays.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy:

The essay demonstrates exceptional sentence variety and grammatical control throughout complex idea development. The writer successfully manages conditional structures ("when people pay directly for medical services, they make more thoughtful decisions"), comparative constructions ("lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy compared to systems"), and complex noun phrases ("comprehensive government-funded healthcare systems") without errors affecting communication.

## Strategic Vocabulary for Public Health Topics

Healthcare System Terminology:

Understanding precise healthcare vocabulary enables sophisticated discussion of medical policy and system effectiveness. Essential terms include "universal healthcare coverage," "preventive medicine programs," "health outcomes measurement," and "medical infrastructure development" that demonstrate familiarity with healthcare policy discussions.

Government healthcare roles can be discussed using terminology like "public health initiatives," "vaccination program implementation," "health education campaigns," and "medical research funding" that show understanding of comprehensive healthcare system functions beyond basic treatment provision.

Economic and Policy Language:

Healthcare economics requires specific vocabulary including "cost-effectiveness analysis," "resource allocation priorities," "healthcare spending efficiency," and "medical bankruptcy prevention" that demonstrate understanding of financial aspects underlying healthcare policy debates.

Policy discussions benefit from terms like "healthcare accessibility," "social equity considerations," "health insurance coverage," and "medical treatment affordability" that show comprehension of broader social implications affecting healthcare system design and effectiveness.

Disease Prevention and Treatment Vocabulary:

Medical prevention discussions can incorporate terminology such as "lifestyle-related disease prevention," "early intervention strategies," "chronic condition management," and "public health screening programs" that demonstrate understanding of comprehensive healthcare approaches.

Treatment and care vocabulary includes "medical intervention effectiveness," "healthcare quality standards," "patient outcome improvement," and "clinical care coordination" that show appreciation for healthcare system complexity and treatment quality considerations.

### BabyCode Medical Vocabulary Mastery

Our comprehensive vocabulary training at BabyCode includes specialized modules for healthcare and medical topics, helping students develop the precise terminology needed for sophisticated public health discussions. We provide contextual usage practice and collocation training that builds natural medical vocabulary usage.

Students practice integrating medical terminology naturally within complex arguments, learning to demonstrate healthcare knowledge without overwhelming their essays with technical language that might reduce clarity or accessibility.

## Common Essay Structures for Public Health Topics

Discuss Both Views Essays:

Public health prompts often require balanced analysis of different policy approaches or responsibility perspectives. Effective structure includes: introduction establishing the debate complexity, first body paragraph presenting individual responsibility arguments with specific examples, second paragraph discussing government healthcare benefits with supporting evidence, third paragraph analyzing economic or practical considerations, and conclusion synthesizing viewpoints while stating personal position clearly.

Problem-Solution Essays:

Healthcare challenges can be addressed through problem-solution structures: introduction identifying specific health problems, first body paragraph analyzing causes such as lifestyle factors or system inadequacies, second paragraph examining consequences including economic and social impacts, third paragraph proposing comprehensive solutions combining prevention and treatment approaches, and conclusion emphasizing implementation importance.

Advantage-Disadvantage Essays:

Government healthcare systems or health policies can be analyzed through advantage-disadvantage frameworks: introduction presenting policy or system for analysis, first body paragraph discussing benefits like universal access and prevention programs, second paragraph examining challenges such as funding requirements or implementation complexity, and conclusion providing balanced evaluation with recommendations for optimization.

Cause-Effect Essays:

Public health topics often explore relationships between lifestyle, policy, and health outcomes: introduction establishing cause-effect relationships, first body paragraph analyzing primary causes like government policy or individual behavior, second paragraph examining direct effects on health outcomes, third paragraph discussing broader social and economic consequences, and conclusion emphasizing understanding importance for policy development.

### BabyCode Essay Structure Excellence

At BabyCode, our proven essay structure templates help students organize complex healthcare arguments effectively while ensuring complete task response and logical development. We provide detailed paragraph planning strategies that maintain clarity while demonstrating sophisticated understanding of public health complexity.

Our students learn to select appropriate essay structures based on prompt requirements, ensuring their arguments develop logically while addressing all task elements comprehensively and persuasively.

## Advanced Argumentation Techniques for Healthcare Topics

Evidence Integration and Example Selection:

Successful public health essays require specific examples that demonstrate understanding of healthcare systems and policy effectiveness. Countries like Sweden, Canada, and Singapore provide compelling case studies for different healthcare approaches, while medical statistics and research findings add credibility to health policy arguments.

Examples should be precise and relevant, such as "Sweden's universal healthcare system achieves 81-year average life expectancy while spending 11% of GDP on healthcare, compared to 17% in private-system countries with lower health outcomes." This specificity demonstrates genuine healthcare knowledge while supporting broader arguments about system effectiveness.

Balanced Argumentation:

Healthcare topics often involve genuine complexity requiring nuanced discussion rather than one-sided advocacy. Effective essays acknowledge legitimate concerns from multiple perspectives while developing clear personal positions based on evidence and reasoning.

For instance, when discussing government healthcare responsibility, acknowledge individual responsibility importance while demonstrating why comprehensive public systems provide superior population health outcomes through specific examples and comparative analysis.

Policy Analysis Integration:

Advanced healthcare essays benefit from understanding policy implementation challenges and real-world constraints affecting healthcare system effectiveness. Discussions might consider funding mechanisms, political feasibility, cultural factors, and economic conditions that influence healthcare policy success across different contexts.

This analysis demonstrates sophisticated thinking that moves beyond simple advantage-disadvantage lists toward comprehensive understanding of healthcare system complexity and policy implementation realities.

### BabyCode Advanced Argumentation Training

Our specialized argumentation training at BabyCode helps students develop the sophisticated reasoning skills needed for complex policy topics like healthcare. We provide frameworks for balanced analysis and evidence integration that demonstrate critical thinking while maintaining clear argumentative direction.

Students practice developing nuanced positions that acknowledge complexity while taking clear stances supported by specific evidence and logical reasoning that examines multiple perspectives thoughtfully.

## Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Oversimplification of Healthcare Systems:

Many students treat healthcare as simple individual versus government responsibility debates without acknowledging system complexity, implementation challenges, or cultural context variations. Avoid statements like "government healthcare is always better" or "individuals should pay for everything" that ignore nuanced reality.

Instead, discuss specific aspects like "universal healthcare systems demonstrate superior preventive care coordination while individual payment systems may provide greater treatment choice flexibility in non-emergency situations."

Insufficient Medical Vocabulary:

Generic healthcare discussions using basic vocabulary like "hospital" and "doctor" fail to demonstrate the sophisticated medical knowledge expected in Band 8+ essays. Students should develop specific terminology for healthcare systems, prevention programs, policy mechanisms, and medical research that shows genuine understanding.

Practice integrating terms like "epidemiological research," "public health interventions," "healthcare infrastructure," and "medical outcome assessment" naturally within healthcare arguments while maintaining clarity and accessibility.

Weak Evidence and Example Usage:

Vague statements about healthcare without specific supporting evidence reduce essay credibility and demonstrate limited healthcare knowledge. Claims like "many countries have good healthcare" provide no useful information and fail to support arguments effectively.

Develop specific examples such as "Taiwan's national health insurance achieves 99.9% population coverage while maintaining healthcare spending at 6.3% of GDP through efficient administration and negotiated pharmaceutical pricing" that demonstrate genuine healthcare system knowledge.

Imbalanced Task Response:

Healthcare prompts requiring discussion of multiple viewpoints often receive unbalanced treatment where students favor one perspective heavily while providing superficial analysis of opposing views. This approach reduces Task Response scores and demonstrates limited critical thinking ability.

Ensure equal development of contrasting viewpoints with specific examples and reasoning for each perspective before developing personal position based on comparative analysis and evidence evaluation.

### BabyCode Error Prevention System

At BabyCode, our comprehensive error analysis helps students identify and correct common healthcare essay mistakes before they impact IELTS performance. We provide specific feedback on medical vocabulary usage, argumentation balance, and evidence integration that builds sophisticated healthcare writing skills.

Our proven error prevention training includes practice with authentic IELTS prompts and detailed feedback from certified instructors who specialize in academic medical and policy writing for international examinations.

Master healthcare and medical topics with these comprehensive guides that provide additional strategies and vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 2 success:

These complementary resources will strengthen your healthcare vocabulary and argumentation skills while providing the comprehensive preparation needed for consistent Band 8+ performance in medical and policy topics.

Transform your public health essays from basic observations into sophisticated healthcare policy analysis with proven strategies, precise medical vocabulary, and balanced argumentation techniques that demonstrate the advanced reasoning skills examiners reward with top band scores.

BabyCode: Your Complete IELTS Healthcare and Medical Topics Excellence Platform

Ready to master public health essays and achieve consistent Band 8+ performance? BabyCode provides the comprehensive vocabulary training, expert sample analysis, and personalized feedback trusted by over 500,000 students worldwide who have transformed their medical topic writing through our proven healthcare essay methodology.

Join BabyCode today and access our complete healthcare mastery system:

  • Comprehensive medical vocabulary modules with contextual usage training
  • Band 9 sample essays with detailed analysis for all healthcare topics
  • Expert essay structure templates optimized for medical and policy discussions
  • Personalized feedback from certified IELTS instructors specializing in healthcare topics
  • Live practice sessions with immediate guidance and medical vocabulary verification

Your journey to IELTS writing excellence in healthcare topics starts with expert guidance and proven strategies. Begin your success story today!