Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-06

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)

Nowadays, few people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing, whereas other people think that we should cooperate more rather than competing against each other. I think, both of the concepts have some positive as well as some negative affects. In competitive environment, people do a lot of hard work to make themselves a winner and if there is mutual cooperation among the people, they will help each other to complete any task and the environment will be very peaceful.

Competition is sometimes neccessary, beacause people tend to perform extraordinary when they are in any competiton. For instance, in a marathon race, all the athletes put a lot of effort to win the race. On the other hand, competitions can be risky, like people becom over aggressive and may try to harm their competitors in any way.

Mutual cooperation plays a significant role in developing a positive environment. In a place where people cooperate with each other and help each other to achieve any goal, becomes a peaceful place automatically. A drawback of this type of environment is thay people may become very relaxed and calm in terms of their life goals, academic goals and official goals. They don't as much effort as required.

In conclusion, both competition and mutual cooperation are equally important for succeeding in any type of environment. No aspect can be ignored. People should compete with each other in some fileds, whereas, they should also be aware about that when they should cooperate with each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You discuss both competition and cooperation and give a concluding view that both matter, so the response is relevant to the prompt. However, the position is not fully clear: the opening says both have positive and negative effects, while the conclusion says they are equally important without explaining when one should take priority. The examples are limited; the marathon illustrates effort, but the risks of competition and the drawbacks of cooperation are asserted rather than supported with specific situations. The response also contains 234 words, below the 250-word minimum; 24 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation or example, and make your final position more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs on competition and cooperation, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the two sides of the discussion. Linking phrases such as “For instance,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” are generally useful, though the progression within paragraphs is sometimes abrupt. For example, the paragraph on cooperation moves from its benefits to people becoming relaxed without explaining the connection in detail. The opening sentence also repeats much of the task wording rather than establishing a focused direction. Improve cohesion by making each paragraph’s main point explicit, then linking the explanation and example back to it; use references such as “this approach” only when their meaning is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competition,” “mutual cooperation,” “competitors,” and “achieve any goal.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “plays a significant role” and “positive environment.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive: “make themselves a winner,” “perform extraordinary,” and “do a lot of hard work” are not natural in these contexts. Spelling errors such as “neccessary,” “beacause,” and “competiton” are noticeable. Build a more precise range for describing motivation, teamwork, and outcomes, and check spelling and collocations during revision so the reader can focus on your argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “if there is mutual cooperation … they will help each other” and a contrast introduced by “whereas.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors occur often enough to make some sentences awkward or unclear. For example, “I think, both of the concepts” has incorrect punctuation, and “In a place where people cooperate …, becomes a peaceful place” lacks a clear grammatical subject for “becomes.” The sentence “They don't as much effort as required” is missing a verb. Practise building complete clauses and checking subject–verb structure, articles, and punctuation, especially in longer sentences. Shorter, accurate sentences can help you express the ideas more clearly.

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