IELTS · Guide 19 · 12 min read

IELTS Speaking Part 2 sample answers: describe a time you helped someone

An IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card on helping someone, with Part 3 follow-ups, transcripts at bands 8, 6.5 and 5 and commentary.

How to use this worked session

This page takes one Part 2 cue card and its Part 3 follow-up questions and shows three candidates answering them at different levels, as transcripts. Try it yourself first: take one minute to make notes, speak for two minutes and record yourself, then answer the Part 3 questions aloud. Compare your recording with the transcripts and commentary.

The task

Part 2 cue card

Describe a time when you helped someone.

You should say:

• who you helped
• what the situation was
• how you helped them
• and explain how you felt about it.

You have one minute to prepare. Speak for one to two minutes.

Part 3 discussion questions

1. Why do some people enjoy helping others more than other people do?
2. Should schools encourage students to do voluntary work?
3. In modern cities, do neighbours help each other less than they used to?

What the examiner is listening for

• In Part 2, a clear story: set the scene, explain the problem, describe what you did, then reflect on it.
• In Part 3, the ability to talk about people and society in general, not only about yourself.

Strong response (around band 8)

Examiner: I'd like you to describe a time when you helped someone. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: I'm going to describe an evening last winter when I helped a young woman who was stranded at the railway station in my town. I was coming home quite late from a friend's birthday dinner, and as I walked through the station I noticed someone standing by the ticket machines looking completely lost, staring at her phone and close to tears. I hesitated for a moment, because you never quite know whether people want to be approached, but in the end I asked if she was all right. It turned out she was a student from Spain who'd arrived that afternoon and was meant to be catching a connecting train to a city further north. Her first train had been delayed, she'd missed the last connection of the night, and her phone battery was down to about two per cent, so she couldn't look anything up or contact the family she was staying with. So the first thing I did was lend her my power bank, which I always carry. Then we went to the information desk together, and it turned out her ticket was still valid on the first train the next morning. The trickier part was finding somewhere to stay at that hour, but I rang a small hotel nearby that I knew, and they had a room. I walked her over there, made sure she'd got hold of her host family, and then went home. As for how I felt, honestly, it was a mixture. I was relieved, obviously, that it had all worked out, but it also made me think about how vulnerable you can feel in a foreign country when one small thing goes wrong. She sent me a lovely message the following week, and we're actually still in touch, which is a nice outcome from what could have been a pretty miserable night for her. Examiner: Why do some people enjoy helping others more than other people do? Candidate: I think personality plays a part. Some people are naturally more aware of what's going on around them, so they simply notice when someone's struggling. Upbringing matters too. If you grew up in a household where helping the neighbours was just what you did, it becomes second nature. And I'd say there's a confidence element as well: plenty of people would like to help but worry about saying the wrong thing or being turned away, so they hold back. Examiner: Should schools encourage students to do voluntary work? Candidate: Yes, I'm broadly in favour, as long as it's genuinely encouraged rather than made compulsory. When volunteering becomes a box to tick on a university application, students tend to choose whatever looks impressive rather than something they care about. But if schools offer a range of options, say helping at a food bank or reading with younger children, it can build empathy and teach practical skills like teamwork that they won't necessarily pick up in the classroom. Examiner: In modern cities, do neighbours help each other less than they used to? Candidate: On the whole, I think they probably do, mainly because people move around so much more. If you're only renting a flat for a year or two, there's less reason to get to know the people next door. Having said that, I've seen a lot of local online groups spring up where people lend tools or offer to collect parcels, so perhaps the help hasn't disappeared so much as changed form.

Commentary

• Fluency and Coherence: A well-told story with a clear shape: scene, problem, action, reflection. The candidate speaks at length without strain and uses natural spoken markers ("It turned out", "So the first thing I did", "As for how I felt"). Part 3 answers each consider more than one angle, and the last ends with a thoughtful qualification ("Having said that ...").
• Lexical Resource: Precise, natural vocabulary: "stranded", "close to tears", "still valid", "got hold of", "vulnerable", "second nature", "a box to tick", "spring up". Words are chosen to fit the exact meaning, and the candidate moves easily into abstract topics in Part 3.
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Narrative tenses are handled smoothly (past continuous for background, past perfect for earlier events: "Her first train had been delayed"). Conditionals, passives ("be approached", "made compulsory") and a range of complex sentences appear, with no noticeable errors.
• Pronunciation: This cannot be judged from a transcript. At this level, aim to be easy to follow from start to finish: chunk the story into natural phrases, use stress to highlight new information ("her phone battery was down to about two per cent"), let intonation carry feeling ("honestly, it was a mixture"), and link words smoothly ("got hold of her" without separate breaks).

Pass-level response (around band 6.5)

Examiner: I'd like you to describe a time when you helped someone. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: I'd like to talk about a time when I helped my neighbour, who is an old lady living next to my flat. Her name is Mrs Hassan and she is about eighty years old. The situation was last year, in winter. She fell down in her kitchen and she broke her hip, so she had to stay in hospital for one week. After she came back home, she couldn't walk properly and she couldn't go out to buy food or medicine. Her children live in another city, so there was nobody to help her. So I decided to help her. Every few days I went to the supermarket and bought things for her, like bread, milk and vegetables. I also collected her medicine from the pharmacy. Sometimes, when I had free time, I stayed with her and we drank tea and talked, because I think she was quite lonely. This continued for about two months, until she could walk again. How I felt ... I felt really good about it, actually. At first I thought it would be difficult, because I was busy with my job, but it didn't take too much time. And she was very thankful, she always gave me some sweets or cake. Also I learned a lot from her, because she told me many interesting stories about her life when she was young. So it was a good experience for both of us, I think. Examiner: Why do some people enjoy helping others more than other people do? Candidate: I think it depends on the personality. Some people are more kind and they like to make other people happy. Also, maybe it depends on the family. If your parents always help other people, you will do the same thing when you grow up. Examiner: Should schools encourage students to do voluntary work? Candidate: Yes, I think it's a good idea. Students can learn many things from voluntary work, for example how to communicate with different people. But it shouldn't take too much time, because they also need to study for their exams. Examiner: In modern cities, do neighbours help each other less than they used to? Candidate: Yes, I think so. In the past, people knew all their neighbours and they helped each other a lot. But now in big cities, everybody is busy and they don't even know who lives next door. For example, in my building I only know two or three neighbours.

Commentary

• Fluency and Coherence: The candidate speaks for the full time and covers every prompt in a logical order. Linking is simple ("So", "Also", "And") and a little repetitive, and there is one hesitation while finding the start of the last section. Part 3 answers are relevant, each with a reason and sometimes an example, but they stop after one idea.
• Lexical Resource: Clear, everyday vocabulary that is enough for the story ("broke her hip", "collected her medicine", "lonely", "thankful"). Less common words and idiomatic phrases are rare, and "more kind" should be "kinder".
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Past tenses are used correctly throughout the story, with some complex sentences ("At first I thought it would be difficult, because ..."). There is a comma splice in speech form ("she was very thankful, she always gave me ...") and the occasional error, but meaning is always clear.
• Pronunciation: This cannot be judged from a transcript. To move higher, aim for clear "-ed" endings ("helped", "collected", "stayed"), a natural rise and fall rather than an even tone, and stress on the words that carry the story ("she broke her hip").

What would lift it: add a second idea or a contrast to each Part 3 answer ("On the other hand ..."), and use a few more precise or idiomatic phrases to describe feelings.

Weaker response (around band 5)

Examiner: I'd like you to describe a time when you helped someone. You have one minute to prepare. Candidate: OK. Er ... I help my friend. His name is Ali. He is my friend from school. Er ... the situation is ... he has exam, English exam, and he is not good in English. And he is worry. So he ask me to help him. I help him ... er ... we study together in library. Every day, er, one hour, two hours. I explain him the grammar and ... the vocabulary. And, er, we do the practice test together. Many practice test. Er ... and then he do the exam and he pass. He get good mark. He was very happy and I am also happy. How I feel ... I feel very good. Because helping is good, er, helping people is good thing. And he is my best friend so ... er, I must help him. Er ... I think everybody must help their friends. Yes. That's it. Examiner: Why do some people enjoy helping others more than other people do? Candidate: Er ... because some people is kind and some people is not kind. Yes. Examiner: Should schools encourage students to do voluntary work? Candidate: Yes, I think it is good. Students can help ... er ... old people, poor people. It is good for them. Examiner: In modern cities, do neighbours help each other less than they used to? Candidate: Yes. In the past, er, people help neighbour. Now no. Now everybody is busy. In my country also, er, same.

Commentary

• Fluency and Coherence: The prompts are covered in order, but the long turn is short and ends well before two minutes. Frequent pauses and restarts ("I help him ... er ...") break the flow. Part 3 answers are a sentence or two, and the first is circular ("some people are kind because they are kind").
• Lexical Resource: Very basic vocabulary, enough to give simple facts. Words are repeated rather than varied ("good" appears six times), and the candidate does not try to paraphrase or expand.
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Almost entirely simple sentences, with the present tense used for a past event ("he ask me", "he do the exam", "he pass"). Other frequent errors: "he is worry", "I explain him", "some people is".
• Pronunciation: This cannot be judged from a transcript. A speaker at this level should aim to say past tense endings clearly (which would also correct the tense errors), keep pauses short and place them between phrases rather than in the middle of them, and stress key words so the listener can follow the story.

What would lift it: plan in the minute of preparation: one or two notes per prompt, including what happened first, next and in the end. Practice telling the story in the past tense until it comes naturally, and give every Part 3 answer a reason and an example.

The three answers side by side

Self-check checklist

1. Did my story have a beginning, a problem, what I did and how it ended?
2. Did I explain my feelings with more than "good" or "happy"?
3. Did I speak for close to two minutes?
4. Did I use past simple, past continuous and past perfect where they fit?
5. In Part 3, did I talk about people in general, not only about myself?
6. Did each Part 3 answer go beyond one sentence, with a reason and an example?
7. Did I avoid long pauses in the middle of phrases?
8. Can I hear the past tense endings clearly in my recording?

About the band levels

The band levels on this page are our own estimates for practice purposes. They are not official scores and are not produced or endorsed by any IELTS partner. Only a certified examiner assessing a real test can give you an official band.

Related guides

• IELTS Speaking: the three parts, timings and how the examiner works
• IELTS Speaking band descriptors explained in plain words
• Back to the IELTS hub