GP essay question guide
Does success depend more on effort than on luck?
Define success and widen luck to include starting points. A strong answer accepts that effort matters, then shows how opportunity shapes how far effort goes.
Unpack this question first: 'Success' needs a definition: grades, income or a life a person values? 'Luck' includes where you start, such as family and money, not just chance events. Lesson: Abstract and values questions
Use this question in writing - Sign in, check the question, then write your response.
Topics: Society and Culture, Economics, Politics and Governance
Three argument directions
Effort makes the difference
Among people with similar starts, those who practise more usually do better.
Qualification: Starting points are rarely similar.
Starting points are luck
Family income, a quiet place to study and tuition shape results before effort begins.
Qualification: Policies can reduce these gaps.
Effort applied to opportunity
Success comes from effort plus the chances to use it.
Qualification: This makes it hard to judge any one person's success.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
Effort matters to success, but luck decides how far effort can take a person, especially the luck of where they start. Two students may study equally hard, yet one has a quiet room, tuition and parents who can explain a hard topic, while the other shares a small flat and works part-time. Their results may differ for reasons neither of them chose. Effort still counts. Among students with similar starting points, those who practise more usually do better, and a society that ignored effort would remove the reason to try. The fairer view is that success comes from effort applied to opportunity, which is why policies that widen opportunity, such as help for low-income families with children, matter as much as telling young people to work hard.
How it is built
- Definition: luck includes starting points.
- Case: two students with equal effort and unequal homes.
- Judgement: effort applied to opportunity, with a policy link.
Six examples to compare
Singapore Changes How Students Choose Post-Secondary Pathways
A new admissions exercise will ask students to rank JC, polytechnic, and ITE choices in one system, making course preference more important.
Possible essay use
Singapore will introduce a combined Post-Secondary Admissions Exercise from 2028; after citizenship, students' choice order will become a posting tie-breaker before gross aggregate score and balloting.
Limitation
the change starts only in 2028 and does not yet show whether students will make better choices or whether competition between pathways will become fairer
Case or source date: 2026-03-03
Source: Ministry of Education Singapore
SkillsFuture Level-Up Supports Mid-Career Training
The SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme gives eligible mid-career Singaporeans a training credit top-up and support for selected full-time training.
Possible essay use
The SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme gives eligible mid-career Singaporeans a training credit top-up and support for selected full-time training.
Limitation
Training support cannot guarantee course quality, employer demand, completion, or higher wages for every participant.
Case or source date: 2024-05-01
Source: SkillsFuture Singapore
The Widening Gap: Economic Inequality's Deep Roots
Economic inequality, the growing gap between rich and poor, stems from complex factors like policies and technology, raising global concerns.
Possible essay use
Oxfam reported in January 2023 that the richest 1% took almost two-thirds of the US$42 trillion of new wealth created since 2020.
Limitation
Oxfam is a campaigning charity, and its figures rely on bank estimates of net wealth that swing with share prices; the pandemic boom in asset prices exaggerates the 2020 to 2022 picture.
Case or source date: 2023-01-16
Source: Al Jazeera
ComLink+ Combines Coaching and Targeted Support
ComLink+ pairs lower-income families with family coaches and links progress packages to steps in education, employment, finance, and housing.
Possible essay use
ComLink+ pairs lower-income families with family coaches and links progress packages to steps in education, employment, finance, and housing.
Limitation
Programme design and early participation do not prove sustained mobility, and conditions may fit some families better than others.
Case or source date: 2024-03-06
Digital Gap: Widening Social and Economic Splits
Unequal tech access deepens social and economic gaps, limiting education and job chances for many globally. This affects personal growth and national progress.
Possible essay use
In August 2020 UNICEF estimated that at least 463 million schoolchildren, about a third, could not access remote learning during school closures.
Limitation
The figure is a model estimate of who could not be reached based on household access to technology; it does not measure how much learning each child actually lost.
Case or source date: 2020-08-27
Source: UNICEF
Singapore Finds AI Is Redesigning More Jobs Than It Removes
Singapore's 2026 labour data gives students a measured answer to a common worry: whether AI is already removing entry-level jobs.
Possible essay use
Singapore reported that entry-level PMET openings rose slightly to 32,800 in March 2026; among firms using AI, 19 percent redesigned roles and 14 percent created AI-related jobs, compared with 6 percent that reduced headcount.
Limitation
the survey captures an early stage of AI adoption and does not prove that every sector or future graduate cohort will have the same experience
Case or source date: 2026-08-05
Source: Ministry of Manpower Singapore