This is an IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer from the real IELTS exam concerned with the topic of family and moving out of the home.
Questions about family are fairly common on IELTS and could come up in listening, reading, writing, or (most likely) speaking.
Read my sample answer below and practice some of the vocabulary related to family!
Here is some review on IELTS Task 2 Writing structures.
These are some other IELTS Task 2 Writing Sample Answers that I wrote!
IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer (Family and the Home)
Many parents encourage young people to leave home when they become older, while others think they should stay at home with the family. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
It has become increasingly prevalent for young adults to leave home before getting married. In my opinion, this is a positive trend taken as a whole because it fosters independence but it can have rare debilitating financial drawbacks.
The main drawback to moving out early is losing a parental safety net that safeguards financial stability. In large cities such as New York, real estate prices are so high that without a high-paying job you will struggle to contend with rent, food, transportation costs, and allowances for leisure activities. It is even possible that these hardships could prove overwhelming and pride may prevent your from going back to your parents. These individuals might end up taking a job with a low salary or that is not their passion.
The aforementioned drawbacks are the exceptions; the majority of people who move out are successful because they become self-reliant. A standout example of this is the typical American university student. Most students leave their parental home at 18 and never look back. These students take their first baby steps towards looking after themselves by doing their own laundry, managing their finances to an extent, and taking on campus employment. Once they graduate from university they will likely take over their entire financial outlay. This means they must find a good job and spend more responsibly. These qualities, of frugality and responsibility, will serve them well in their lives and increase their odds of future success.
In conclusion, the majority benefit from the added responsibility that leaving home brings. To encourage more people to move out parents should provide a degree of financial support when necessary but focus moreso on fostering their children’s independence.
IELTS Examiner Sample Answer Analysis (Family and the Home)
1. It has become increasingly prevalent for young adults to leave home before getting married. 2. In my opinion, this is a positive trend taken as a whole because it fosters independence but it can have rare debilitating financial drawbacks.
1. My first sentence simple restates the main topic for the whole essay. If you misunderstand the question and write about the wrong topic you will end up with a band 3, 4, or 5 maximum for task achievement! Spend some time carefully reading the question but then write this sentence fast because you are simply paraphrasing.
2. The next sentence is my opinion. Make your opinion 100% clear or you could get a task achievement band 5! (And repeat it again in the conclusion later.)
1. The main drawback to moving out early is losing a parental safety net that safeguards financial stability. 2. In large cities such as New York, real estate prices are so high that without a high-paying job you will struggle to contend with rent, food, transportation costs, and allowances for leisure activities. 3. It is even possible that these hardships could prove overwhelming and pride may prevent your from going back to your parents. 4. These individuals might end up taking a job with a low salary or that is not their passion.
1. The first sentence is the topic sentence for the paragraph that contains my main idea (financial stability). My whole paragraph will focus on this one idea!
2. My second sentence explains some of the costs that can come up in life.
3. The third sentence describes the possible results of financial hardships.
4. My final sentence describes the results. Don’t make statements that are too strong – for example, don’t say ‘People will then turn to crime’ because this is both factually incorrect and much too strong of a statement for a short essay!
1. The aforementioned drawbacks are the exceptions; the majority of people who move out are successful because they become self-reliant. 2. A standout example of this is the typical American university student. 3. Most students leave their parental home at 18 and never look back. 4. These students take their first baby steps towards looking after themselves by doing their own laundry, managing their finances to an extent, and taking on campus employment. 5. Once they graduate from university they will likely take over their entire financial outlay. 6. This means they must find a good job and spend more responsibly. 7. These qualities, of frugality and responsibility, will serve them well in their lives and increase their odds of future success.
1. The first sentence is another topic sentence with my new main idea: moving out makes young adults more self-reliant.
2. My second sentence starts my example.
3. The third sentence continues to develop this example.
4. My fourth sentence also further develops the example by describing the tasks they must do independently.
5. The fifth sentence also continues this example by introducing finances.
6. My sixth sentence focuses on what they must do to meet their financial obligations.
7. The final sentence concludes how these qualities will help them in a more general sense.
1. In conclusion, the majority benefit from the added responsibility that leaving home brings. 2. To encourage more people to move out parents should provide a degree of financial support when necessary but focus moreso on fostering their children’s independence.
1. My first sentence repeats my overall opinion. Be crystal clear – don’t sit in the middle!
2. The final sentence adds an extra detail to the paragraph that many examiners will require for at least band 7 for task achievement.
Sample Answer Vocabulary
What do the words in bold mean? If you’re not sure, don’t use a dictionary – try to figure out the meaning from the whole sentence then check your answers below!
It has become increasingly prevalent for young adults to leave home before getting married. In my opinion, this is a positive trend taken as a whole because it fosters independence but it can have rare debilitating financial drawbacks.
The main drawback to moving out early is losing a parental safety net that safeguards financial stability. In large cities such as New York, real estate prices are so high that without a high-paying job you will struggle to contend with rent, food, transportation costs, and allowances for leisure activities. It is even possible that these hardships could prove overwhelming and pride may prevent your from going back to your parents. These individuals might end up taking a job with a low salary or that is not their passion.
The aforementioned drawbacks are the exceptions; the majority of people who move out are successful because they become self-reliant. A standout example of this is the typical American university student. Most students leave their parental home at 18 and never look back. These students take their first baby steps towards looking after themselves by doing their own laundry, managing their finances to an extent, and taking on campus employment. Once they graduate from university they will likely take over their entire financial outlay. This means they must find a good job and spend more responsibly. These qualities, of frugality and responsibility, will serve them well in their lives and increase their odds of future success.
In conclusion, the majority benefit from the added responsibility that leaving home brings. To encourage more people to move out parents should provide a degree of financial support when necessary but focus moreso on fostering their children’s independence.
Answers:
increasingly prevalent: more and more common
young adults: young people
taken as a whole: considered overall
fosters independence: encourages them to be self-reliant
rare debilitating financial drawbacks: uncommon very bad consequences for their money
safety net: something to protect you in bad times
safeguards: protects from
financial stability: regular income
high-paying job: making a lot of money in your work
struggle: have difficulty with
contend: deal with
allowances: exceptions/money set aside
hardships: difficult times
prove overwhelming: be too much to get past
pride: feelings of self-worth
end up: finally be
passion: love for something
aforementioned drawback: previously stated negative
self-reliant: don’t need help from others
A standout example of this is the typical: A good example of this is the average
parental home: their parent’s home
never look back: do no return
first baby steps: early, basic stages
to an extent: not fully/somewhat
taking on: assuming responsibility for
take over: be in charge of
financial outlay: the amount of money you have to spend
spend more responsibly: spend your money more wisely
frugality: not spending a lot of money
serve them well: work well for them
increase their odds of: make it more likely that
provide a degree of financial support: help out with money somewhat
focus moreso: instead concentrate on
fostering their children’s independence: encouraging their children to be more responsible
this is a “Discuss Both Sides’ Essay and you should clearly explain both sides of views BUT in the first paragraph you just disagree with one sides on views whereas you should explain why some people think X and the next paragraph you should explain why other people think Y (and give your opinion)
Thanks Ali! In this essay, I give my opinion in the first paragraph (the introduction) and then discuss both views in the other paragraphs. In the second paragraph I detail the main reason why it is a good idea to stay home (one side) and in the next paragraph why I think it is better to leave home (the other view). Is that clearer to you?
Thank you Dave… you’re right… but isn’t it better to put a sentence like
“some parents claim that staying away from home has some drawbacks…” at the beginning of second paragraph?
Yes, that will make it very clear to the examiner – but the arguments of the paragraph also make it clear. To be safe, you should follow your suggestion – better safe than sorry!