The question
Write about the following topic:
All university students should be required to study at least one subject outside their main field, for example a science student taking a course in history or literature.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Key ideas for a high-band answer
- A clear position maintained throughout (e.g. largely agree, provided the extra course does not weaken specialist training).
- Real-world problems cross subject boundaries: an engineer or doctor benefits from understanding economics, society or ethics.
- Humanities courses build critical thinking and communication skills that employers say technical graduates often lack.
- Personal growth: an elective can spark lifelong interests and bring students into contact with different ways of thinking.
- Concession and rebuttal: crowded timetables and heavier workload (e.g. in medicine) can be managed with short, flexible modules.
Band 9 model answer
309 words · written by Abroadway to show band 9 features (not an official IELTS sample)
At most universities, students spend three or four years studying a single discipline in great depth. Some people argue that every undergraduate should also be obliged to take at least one course in an unrelated field. I largely agree with this idea, provided that the extra course is carefully chosen and does not weaken students' specialist training.
The strongest argument for such a requirement is that real-world problems rarely belong to one subject. An engineer designing a new bridge, for example, must consider not only materials and structures but also the communities that will use it and its effect on the environment. A student who has taken even one course in economics or sociology is far more likely to ask these questions. Similarly, studying history or literature develops critical thinking and clear writing, skills that employers regularly say are lacking in technical graduates.
A second benefit is personal rather than professional. University is, for many people, the last opportunity to explore ideas freely before full-time work begins. A compulsory elective in philosophy, music or a foreign language can spark a lifelong interest, and it brings students into contact with classmates who think very differently from them. The result is a more well-rounded graduate.
Admittedly, critics have a point when they say that degree programmes are already crowded. In demanding fields such as medicine, an additional subject could increase the workload and stress that students face, and some may treat the course as a box-ticking exercise. However, these risks can be reduced by offering short, well-designed modules and giving students a genuine choice of subject.
In conclusion, I believe that requiring students to study outside their main field produces graduates who are more adaptable, better at communicating and more aware of the wider world. As long as the requirement is flexible, its benefits clearly outweigh the extra burden it creates.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- specialist
- discipline
- elective
- critical thinking
- well-rounded
- employers
- workload
- adaptable
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