PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water-soluble polymer of a high molecular weight which hardly contains a gel and an oligomer component, and can be used for a coating, a dispersant, and a photosensitive resin or the like.SOLUTION: The water-soluble polymer is obtained by polymerizing an acrylate of a specific structure containing a hydroxyethyl group or an N-substituted acrylamide monomer (A) and a monofunctional monomer (B) that can be copolymerized with the monomer (A) (monomer (A) is excluded) by the molar ratio (A)/(B) =70/30-100/0, wherein the weight average molecular weight is 500,000-10,000,000, and the gel fraction is at most 1%.