Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-07

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 5.0)

Nowadays, most of the people in the house are earnings and it means that they have to be in offices irrespective if they are salaried person or self employed. This is good until you don't have kids but once you have a kid then this makes it difficult for either of them to manage at their end. Hence, someone help or support is required which comes from either of their family members. I just give an example from my past expeirience where my neighbour had emergency and had to rush to hospital.

It's difficult to handle or manage in such situation when you have a small kid at home. They had approached us for help and requested to take care of their kid for sometime. We had no options then to help them which is totally fine as we never know that such situation can come to anyone at anytime. This was manageable since we were free at that particular time. However, the next time when again they needed the help, it was difficult for us to manage the time. We need to politely regret their request making them understand our situation too.

I think someone should not take any advantage of such situation and wherever possible try to avoid taking help from someone but again I would say that it depends on situation to situation.Helping others is good providing you are not suffering by any means. But at the other hand it should not be taken as granted. Therefore, one must analyse the situation before they approach for any kind of help. In emergency when we have no choice it's understood.

In conclusion: helping others without any concerns is okay but at the same time this should not be a practise.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response is relevant to the topic and gives a personal example of neighbours needing childcare, but it addresses the task only partially. The question asks whether paying someone to do unwanted or time-consuming tasks is a good way to provide work, and whether people should do these tasks themselves. Your discussion focuses mainly on accepting or refusing unpaid help from neighbours, so it does not explain the benefits or drawbacks of hiring workers. The final view—that help is acceptable in emergencies but should not be taken for granted—is understandable, yet it does not clearly answer both questions. To strengthen the response, state your position on paid services directly and develop reasons, such as creating employment while freeing people’s time, alongside any limits or responsibilities.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation: the opening introduces the difficulty of managing work and childcare, the next paragraph gives an example, and the final paragraphs offer a view and conclusion. Basic linking expressions such as “Hence,” “However,” and “Therefore” help show relationships between ideas. However, the overall progression is not always clear because the example concerns neighbours helping without payment, while the task is about paying someone. The conclusion also repeats the idea of helping without concern rather than drawing together an answer to both questions. Some references, such as “this” in “this makes it difficult,” are not fully precise. Organise the response around the two questions, and use clearer links between the example and your argument about paid work.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses enough everyday vocabulary to communicate its general meaning, including phrases such as “manage their time,” “emergency,” and “take care of their kid.” There are also attempts at more formal wording, such as “analyse the situation” and “approached us for help.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning less natural: “most of the people in the house are earnings,” “regret their request,” and “taken as granted.” Spelling errors such as “expeirience” and “practise” also affect accuracy. Build vocabulary specifically for the topic of paid services and employment, and check common collocations and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “once you have a kid then this makes it difficult” and a subordinate clause beginning “when again they needed the help.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but errors occur frequently and some sentences are difficult to follow. For example, “most of the people in the house are earnings” has an incorrect verb construction, while “it depends on situation to situation.Helping others” needs clearer sentence boundaries and punctuation. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and sentence structure, as in “when you have a small kid at home” followed by “They had approached us.” Practise building accurate sentences first, then add subordinate clauses and check tense consistency and punctuation.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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