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 8 · Original model answer

234 words · Illustrative target band

The skill that comes to mind is cooking a few dependable meals. My sister taught me after I moved out of our family home. I had assumed I would somehow pick it up, but within a fortnight I was surviving on sandwiches and spending far too much on deliveries. She came over one Sunday with the ingredients for a vegetable soup. What made her approach helpful was that she did not take over. She had me do the chopping, ad…

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