💼Work and money
1 tasks
Work appears in every part of the test, and in Task 2 it is usually framed around change — automation, working hours, retirement age, whether people should stay in one career. The strongest answers avoid describing your own job and argue about the labour market instead.
Useful vocabulary
job securitynoun
how safe a job is from being lost
Job security has fallen sharply in the last two decades.
work-life balancenoun
the division between work and personal time
Long commutes destroy work-life balance more than long hours do.
the workforcenoun
all the people available to work
Older workers are staying in the workforce far longer than before.
self-employedadjective
working for yourself rather than an employer
A growing share of graduates are self-employed within five years.
redundantadjective
no longer needed, so dismissed from a job
Whole departments were made redundant when the process was automated.
disposable incomenoun
money left after essential costs
Rising rents have eaten into disposable income across the country.
living wagenoun
pay high enough to cover basic needs
Campaigners argue the minimum wage is well below a living wage.
career progressionnoun
moving upward through jobs
Remote workers sometimes report slower career progression.
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