Government and society vocabulary: the words that lift a frequent topic.
Public spending, services and policy run through Task 2 and Part 3, from where money should go to how the state should act. The ideas are familiar; the marks are in precise, topic-specific language. Swap the everyday word for the right collocation and the same point reads a band higher.
Why this matters. Lexical Resource is a quarter of your mark, and on a familiar topic the examiner has read the plain version a thousand times. The lift is not rarer words; it is accurate collocation used naturally. A common phrase used correctly beats a showy word used wrongly, every time.
Four clusters that cover most Government questions.
You do not need a glossary. You need a handful of accurate collocations in each of these areas, ready to deploy.
Government & spending
public spending · allocate funds · a government subsidy · taxpayers’ money
How the state raises and spends money, the base of many Task 2 questions.
Governments must decide how to allocate limited public funds.
Public services
public services · healthcare and education · infrastructure · the welfare state
What the state provides, the things spending is weighed between.
Well-funded public services underpin a fair society.
Policy & regulation
introduce legislation · impose regulations · enforce a ban · a policy measure
How government acts, the verbs Part 3 reaches for.
The government introduced legislation to curb emissions.
Society & the citizen
social cohesion · civic responsibility · the public interest · reduce inequality
The social goals policy serves, where balanced answers land.
Strong public services support social cohesion.
Choose the precise verb of government
The weak answer says “the government should do something”. The lift is the exact action: fund, subsidise, regulate, legislate, enforce. The right verb signals you understand how policy actually works.
The same point, from Band 6 to Band 8.
At Band 5
Government is discussed with very general words (the government, money, rules), with vague verbs (do something about it). Precise terms (subsidise, legislation) are missing.
At Band 6
“The government should spend more money on hospitals and schools instead of other things.” The idea is fine, but “spend money on” and “other things” are general.
At Band 7
“Governments should allocate more public funding to healthcare and education rather than to prestige projects.” Topic collocations (allocate public funding) carry real information.
At Band 8+
“Directing taxpayers’ money towards essential public services, rather than subsidising private industry, tends to do more to reduce inequality and strengthen social cohesion.” Precise lexis, abstraction, and a controlled complex sentence.
The upgrade most worth making.
Each swap takes a vague, everyday phrase and replaces it with the collocation an examiner expects on this topic. Use them where they fit naturally, not all at once.
| Instead of… | Use… | For example |
|---|---|---|
| government money | public funds / taxpayers’ money | Public funds should be spent wisely. |
| spend money on | allocate funding to | The state allocates funding to schools. |
| help with money | subsidise | Governments subsidise renewable energy. |
| make a law | introduce legislation / legislate | Parliament introduced legislation on data. |
| make rules | impose regulations | Regulators impose strict safety rules. |
| make people follow a law | enforce | Police enforce the new law. |
| help for poor people | the welfare state / social support | The welfare state provides a safety net. |
| roads and public works | infrastructure | Investment in infrastructure boosts growth. |
Two cautions. Stay balanced and impersonal, weigh competing priorities rather than insisting the government “must” do one thing. And avoid slang for the state (the top people). For the general method, see vocabulary & cohesion →
Ten to drill.
Choose the more precise, topic-appropriate option for each gap. Press Check answers for your score and the reason behind each one. Nothing is sent anywhere.
You can collect topic words. Using the right one, accurately, under timed pressure is the work.
Memorised “big” words used wrongly cost marks; precise collocations used naturally earn them, and the difference is hard to judge in your own writing.
In a lesson I mark your topic vocabulary the way an examiner does, where a collocation is exactly right, where it is forced, and where a plain word would have been stronger. Lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English; the first step is a free 25-minute introduction. This page is drawn from the vocabulary work in the forthcoming Ultimate Guide to IELTS Speaking.