Part 2 · · 5 samples

Describe a useful skill you learnt from another person. You should say: what the skill was who taught you how you learnt it and explain why the skill has been useful to you.

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Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Choose a skill with a clear learning story.
  • Mention a difficulty, an action and a result.
  • Explain how you now use it rather than simply calling it useful.

Suggested structure

  1. Identify the person, skill and occasion.
  2. Describe the learning process in order.
  3. Explain one challenge and how you overcame it.
  4. Give a current example of its usefulness.
Useful vocabulary & examples
a manageable step
a small action that is realistic to complete

One manageable step helped me get started.

pay attention to
notice something carefully

I began to pay attention to small details.

grow in confidence
become more sure of one’s ability

I grew in confidence after trying again.

Sample answers

Target Band 7 · Original model answer

215 words · Illustrative target band

I would like to describe learning to cook, which my older sister helped me with shortly after I moved into my first flat. Until then, I had relied on family meals, so living alone exposed a fairly obvious gap in my skills. My sister suggested starting with vegetable soup because it was inexpensive and difficult to ruin completely. We bought the ingredients together, and she explained the basic method rather than ask…

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