Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

some people believe that competition is beneficial in work, education and everyday life, while others rhink that cooperation is more important. This essay will discuss both veiws and argue that a baalnce of both is needed, but coopertion is slightly more valuable.

on the one hand, Competition has some advantages. firstly, it motivates people to work harder and improve themselves. for example when student compete for good grades, they study more seriously. similary, in workplace,employees try to do better than their colleagues to get a promotion or a higher salary. This competition can lead to innovation and higher productivity. Secondly, competition makes life more exciting and helps people discover their true potential.

On the other hand, cooperation is more important for long-term success. When people cooperate, they share ideas and help each other. For instance, in a school project, if students work together as a team, they can solve difficult problems more easily. At work, cooperation creates a friendly environment and reduces stress. If workers help each other instead of fighting for personal gain, the whole company will benefit. Furthermore, too much competition can cause jealousy, anxiety and broken relationships.In my opinion, although competition is useful for motivation, cooperation should be encouraged more. In modern society, most big achievements, like building a building or doing scientific research, require teamwork. Therefore, schools and companies should teach people how to cooperate.

In conclusion, competition can motivate people to do better, but cooperation is essential for a happy and successful society. I believe that we should cooperate more than we compete.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both sides of the discussion and state a clear position: cooperation is “slightly more valuable,” while competition remains useful for motivation. Relevant examples, such as students competing for grades and colleagues seeking promotion, support the benefits of competition; the school-project and workplace examples explain cooperation effectively. Your conclusion also reflects the position established in the introduction. This meets the task well, with some elements more fully developed than others: the benefits of competition are listed, but the claim that it makes life “more exciting” and reveals potential is not explained or illustrated. To strengthen the response further, develop that point or connect it to a specific example, and explain more precisely why cooperation is more valuable in the long term.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The progression from competition’s benefits to cooperation’s advantages is easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help orient the reader. Some linking is effective but can feel mechanical because the paragraphs rely on a sequence of “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “Furthermore.” The transition from the cooperation discussion to “In my opinion” also occurs within the same paragraph, so the paragraph carries several functions. For a more flexible, polished progression, integrate your opinion into the comparison and vary how you connect examples and explanations. Check spacing after full stops and commas, which currently interrupts the presentation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “innovation,” “higher productivity,” “teamwork,” and “personal gain.” These choices show some range beyond basic terms, and the reader can understand your argument. However, spelling errors are noticeable, including “rhink,” “veiws,” “baalnce,” and “coopertion,” and they reduce the accuracy of the vocabulary. Some expressions are also broad or less natural, such as “makes life more exciting” and “building a building.” Aim to check spelling carefully and choose more precise collocations. For example, you could describe competition as “stimulating” or refer to “constructing infrastructure” rather than repeating “building.” This would make your ideas sound more controlled and specific.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “If workers help each other… the whole company will benefit” and a subordinate clause beginning “although competition is useful.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some errors in sentence boundaries, punctuation, and capitalisation affect accuracy. For instance, “In my opinion” is joined directly to the preceding sentence after “relationships,” and several sentences begin with lowercase words, including “firstly” and “for example.” There is also inconsistent capitalisation of “Competition” after “On the one hand.” Use full stops or semicolons to separate complete ideas, and review sentence openings and punctuation. More consistent control of these features would make the varied structures clearer.

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