Should children do household chores
This is a model answer written to show what a Band 7 response looks like against the marking criteria. It is a worked example, not a graded submission. To see your own band, paste your writing into the free checker.
The prompt
Some people believe that children should be required to help with household tasks such as cleaning and cooking as soon as they are able to. Do you agree or disagree?
Band 7 model answer (261 words)
Some parents shield their children from housework so they can focus on study and play, while others hand out chores from an early age. I firmly agree that children should help around the home as soon as they reasonably can, because chores build competence and teach them that a household is a shared responsibility.
The first benefit is simple practical ability. A child who learns to cook basic meals, wash clothes and keep a room in order becomes a teenager who can look after himself, and eventually an adult who is not helpless the day he leaves home. These skills are rarely taught anywhere else; schools cover algebra but not how to run a kitchen, so the family home is effectively the only classroom available for daily life.
More importantly, chores shape character. When a girl clears the table because the family needs it done, not because she is paid or praised, she learns that she is a contributor to the household rather than merely a guest in it. Children raised this way tend to notice work that needs doing instead of waiting to be asked, a habit that later serves them well in shared flats, marriages and workplaces.
Critics worry that housework steals time from schoolwork, but the amounts involved are modest. Fifteen minutes of washing up costs no exam grades, and a child overloaded with study benefits from a task that uses hands rather than memory.
In conclusion, requiring children to share household tasks equips them with lifelong skills and a sense of responsibility, and I fully support it.
Why this reaches Band 7
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Task Response
A firm position with two developed reasons, clearly ranked ("More importantly"), and the study-time objection is answered with a concrete proportion argument rather than brushed aside.
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Coherence and Cohesion
The essay moves from practical skills to character to the counter-argument in a logical build, and references like "raised this way" tie ideas back without repetition.
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Lexical Resource
Memorable but accurate phrasing such as "a contributor to the household rather than merely a guest in it" and "the only classroom available for daily life" goes beyond common vocabulary naturally.
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Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied structures including "not because she is paid or praised" and the compact "costs no exam grades", controlled with very few slips.
The one fix to reach Band 7
A Band 6 answer here says chores teach "responsibility" and "life skills" without showing either. The single change worth a band is turning each abstract benefit into a small scene: name the chore, name the child, and show what the habit becomes in adult life.
Now check your own answer.
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