Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-12

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)

It is true that people pay others to do the household chores or looking after children. It is a grey area and one needs a proper context to say if it is a good way to provide work for others.

I will give one example from my own personal experience, My mom and Dad were both working, money was our main motive since they wanted us to have better lives, My mom cannot do all household chores herself so she hired a maid. This provided a household lady who was not skilled but knew basic household chores with money in hands thus giving her little bit financial stability. We treated her really good and she was very professional in her work, she was on-time and was never over demanding. We gifted her stuff during the winter holidays which made her more happy over time. Paying people to do chores for us is not bad but not treating them professionally is what brings this argument towards negative side.

For looking after children, one should also look after context. If a couple is working and they pay a daycare or hire a nanny to keep an eye on there children for few early years of the kid is reasonable as parents are working for there children and financial stability and bright future.

In conclusion I would like to say that paying to do household chores or taking care of children is not bad but not treating them professionally makes the job look bad.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions and give a consistent overall view: paying for help can provide employment, and the arrangement is acceptable when workers are treated professionally. The example of your parents hiring a maid supports the first point, while the daycare or nanny example responds to childcare. However, the discussion is uneven: the household example is more detailed, whereas the childcare point is brief and mainly explains why parents may need help. The second question—whether people should do these tasks themselves—could be answered more directly by explaining when self-care is practical and when paid help is preferable. Develop that comparison and make the reasons behind your position clearer to strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs on household work and childcare, and a conclusion that restates your view. This makes the main line of argument easy to follow. You also use basic links such as “For looking after children” and “In conclusion” to signal shifts. At times, however, connections between ideas are loose or repetitive. The opening says the issue depends on context, but the body does not clearly organise the examples around specific contexts, and the conclusion repeats the point about professional treatment without drawing the two examples together. Use clearer topic sentences and linking phrases to show how each example supports your answers to both questions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “household chores,” “financial stability,” “daycare,” and “nanny.” There are also attempts at more specific description, for example “professional in her work” and “bright future.” However, the range is somewhat repetitive, especially with repeated references to “paying” and “chores,” and some word choices or collocations are awkward, such as “money in hands,” “over demanding,” and “made her more happy.” These do not prevent understanding, but they make parts of the account less natural. Aim for more precise expressions for employment and care, and check that adjectives and phrases fit their context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “If a couple is working…” and a contrast introduced by “but.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, and pronouns recur. For example, the second sentence begins “I will give one example…” and then runs several independent clauses together with commas; this makes the structure difficult to follow. In the childcare paragraph, “there children” and “for few early years” show errors in pronoun form and article use, while “parents are working” shifts awkwardly from the hypothetical couple. Use full stops to separate complete ideas, and review possessives, articles, and consistent verb forms.

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