Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Some individuals argue that competition in daily life activities is a positive thing, while others argue that we should cooperate with each other instead of competition. This essay will examine both views of this trend. Firstly, I will explore why competition in daily life is a good, and secondly I will discuss the other perspective as well.

To begin with, competing against each others has both positive and negative impacts. It encourages people to hard work. When employers and students compete with each other they try to give their best input. For example, pupils participate in competition, and they do efforts to win. In contrast, it also misleads people regarding success. When they give their full efforts and not achieve their goals. They might be disappointed because they feel wining is a key to success. Therefore, it has both effects.

On the other hand, cooperation leads to positive environmental development.Through this individuals work in a good environment. It will effects in positive way other physical and mental health. For instance, when coleagues work together they do not feel burden, they have to win in everything,they do not get stress about anything.Moreover, it also contributes to motiviation among workers and students, if they fail to achieve their goals. Because if they help each other in completing their tasks, and someone fails im completion their work, they will not feel guilt or less.Hence, cooperation give risen to positive development among individuals.

In conclusion, although competition has a positive impacts such as motivation to hard work, I believe cooperation is far better than competition because it leads positive developmets about health related and also people feel motivated despite the failure.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the discussion and state a clear preference for cooperation in the conclusion. Relevant points include competition encouraging people to give their best and cooperation reducing pressure and supporting people after failure. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the competition paragraph introduces disappointment but does not explain how this affects people or balance it against the benefits, while the cooperation examples remain general. The opening also promises to examine the views rather than presenting your own position clearly from the outset. To strengthen the response, explain each main point with a specific consequence or example, and make your view explicit in the introduction as well as the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and linking phrases can feel mechanical. For example, “Therefore, it has both effects” repeats the preceding point without advancing it, while the long cooperation paragraph moves from workplace atmosphere to health, stress, and motivation without clearly separating these ideas. Some references, such as “Through this,” are also vague. Organise each body paragraph around one main claim, then explain and illustrate it before moving to the next point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “compete,” “cooperate,” “disappointed,” “burden,” and “motivated.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making meaning less clear. Examples include “give their best input,” “do efforts to win,” and “positive environmental development,” which do not express the intended ideas naturally. There are also spelling errors such as “wining,” “coleagues,” and “motiviation.” Build a more precise set of phrases for discussing achievement, pressure, and teamwork, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional idea in “When they give their full efforts and not achieve their goals,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur frequently and can make the reader pause. For example, “cooperation give risen” has an incorrect subject–verb form and construction, while “It will effects” uses an incorrect verb form. The sentence beginning “Moreover, it also contributes…” becomes difficult to follow because the clause after “if” is not integrated correctly. Punctuation and spacing also need attention, particularly where sentences run together. Practise building accurate clauses first, then combine them using conjunctions and relative clauses.

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