Task 2 · Discussion (both views) · Community
Volunteers running local services
A discussion essay on volunteer-run libraries and community centres, where the band 9 answer asks which neighbourhoods can actually supply the volunteers.
The question
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
In some areas, libraries, parks and community centres that were once run by paid council staff are now managed by local volunteers. Some people believe this is the best way to keep such services open, while others argue that local government should pay professionals to run them. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
A 250-word discursive essay — the half of the paper that carries two thirds of the marks. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.
What separates the three answers
All three versions end with paid staff supported by volunteers; only the 9 builds that verdict on the observation, made in passing by the 7.5, that the time to volunteer is concentrated in the districts that need help least.
The three answers
Band 6.5
299 words (the task asks for at least 250)The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.
The answer
Nowadays, many local governments do not have enough money, so some libraries, parks and community centres are run by the volunteers instead of the paid workers. Some people think this is a good way to keep these places open, but other people think the government should pay professional staff to run them. I will discuss both views and give my opinion.
On the one hand, there are some reasons why volunteers are a good solution.3 Firstly, if there is no money, it is better to have the library open with volunteers than to close it. Secondly, the volunteers are usually living in the same area5, so they know what the local people need and they care about the place. For example, a retired teacher can help the children with their homework in the library. In addition, volunteering is good for the volunteers themself4, because they can meet new people and feel useful.
On the other hand, many people believe that the government has the responsibility to run these services. The professional staff have the training and the experience, for example a librarian knows how to organise the books and how to help people to find the information. The volunteers can stop coming at any time, so the service is not reliable. Also, it is not fair that the people work for free while they pay taxes for these services.2
In my opinion, the government should pay for the professional staff, because these places are very important for the community1, especially for the poor families and the old people. However, the volunteers can also help the staff in some activities like the events or the cleaning of the park.
In conclusion, both views have good points, but I believe the local government should take the main responsibility for these services.
What an examiner notices
1. Task response
“In my opinion, the government should pay for the professional staff, because these places are very important for the community”
The reason explains why the places matter, which nobody disputes, not why they need paid staff. The essay's own first sentence says there is no money, and the opinion never deals with that.
2. Task response
“Also, it is not fair that the people work for free while they pay taxes for these services.”
Probably the strongest point in the essay, added with 'Also' as the last sentence of a paragraph and never developed.
3. Coherence and cohesion
“On the one hand, there are some reasons why volunteers are a good solution.”
A heading rather than a topic sentence. The ordering that follows comes from 'Firstly', 'Secondly' and 'In addition', not from any relationship between the reasons.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“volunteering is good for the volunteers themself”
The plural reflexive is 'themselves'. A form error on a word the writer plainly knows.
5. Grammatical range and accuracy
“the volunteers are usually living in the same area”
The continuous suggests something temporary; a settled situation takes the present simple, 'usually live'.
One honest caveat
Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.
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