Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is sometimes possible to pay somebody to do things you don't want to do, or don't have time to do, for example, household chores or looking after children.

Is this a good way of providing work for others?

Should people do these things themselves?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Hiring a nanny to look after one's childeren or paying workers to do household chores is a familiar thing people do in recent time.

The busy work schedule of some parents gives no room to combine doing household chores and their jobs. They are up by dawn to start prepping for work then commute to office and get back home very late at night, this routine gives no time or opportunity to tend to any household chore hence why workers are employed to take care of that. The help is in charge of cooking, cleaning, looking after the kids, basically keeping the house in good shape. Asides the fact that this provides job opportunities for people to be able to sustain themselves, it also takes load off the employers plate.

There is huge rise in postpartum depression among women and this is becuase after childbirth they do not get proper time for recovery. They are occupied with taking care of the child, husband, trying to cook and clean the house all thereby forgetting they also need time to recover. This is why nannies are employed to look after the child while the mother recovers and get to do other stuffs to make her feel more alive. Mothers who have nannies tend to be more happy and feel more relaxed, also recover better than the ones who do not have a help mate.

If one can afford to employ a worker or nanny to assist with household chores and taking care of the baby then one should. This gives people a sense of relief and chance to do other activities but most importantly provide job opportunities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both parts of the prompt by discussing the economic benefits of providing work for others and the personal reasons why people might choose to hire help, such as managing busy schedules or recovering from childbirth. However, your position is not always fully sustained, and some ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, your point about postpartum depression introduces a relevant concept, but it is not explored in depth with specific examples or a thorough exploration of the counterargument regarding whether people should do these things themselves. To move to a higher level, you should extend your arguments further, ensuring every main point is supported with detailed explanations and concrete examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

Your essay has a coherent overall arrangement, and your ideas are generally organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing different angles, and a brief conclusion. However, the cohesion between sentences and within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical or relies on simple linking techniques. For example, transitional phrases could be varied to show clearer relationships between your points, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the flow between sentences discussing parents' schedules. To improve, you should use a wider and more natural range of cohesive devices and ensure that paragraph transitions guide the reader smoothly through your line of argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as "postpartum depression," "commute to office," and "sustain themselves." However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that occasionally distract the reader, such as "childeren" instead of children, "Asides" instead of Besides, and "becuase" instead of because. Additionally, phrases like "take load off the employers plate" and "stuffs" lack precision and stylistic appropriateness. To achieve a higher score, you need to expand your control of less common vocabulary, ensure correct word forms and spellings, and refine your collocations for greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms throughout your essay, attempting structures such as conditional sentences and subordinate clauses like "If one can afford to employ a worker... then one should." However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with run-on sentences, missing articles, and subject-verb agreement. For example, sentences such as "They are up by dawn to start prepping for work then commute to office and get back home very late at night, this routine gives no time..." contain comma splices. Furthermore, phrases like "more happy" and "get to do other stuffs" reveal persistent structural flaws. To improve, focus on reducing punctuation errors, ensuring accurate use of articles, and increasing the variety of error-free complex sentences.

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