Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

There is an outgoing debate about weather competition at work, at school and in daily life is a impressive thing. While, other people strongly believe that we should try to cooperate more and create stronger bond, rather than competing other. In this essay, I will discuss both view and then give my own opinion.

Those who argue that competition at work make person more hardworking, honest and responsible. They work their project with honesty and completing on their time, so they created better impression in his company. However, it has some drawback, the worker completely loss the cooperative work in his colleague and do not notice his idea and become selfish person. The competition in students at school has several advantage, they submit their homework, learn daily lesson and attain better grades in his exam. They work day and night to succeed in examination. In contrast, it have some disadvantage, the students ignored extra curriculum activities in the race of getting better grades and unwell his health. In our daily life, the competition make person more creative, valuable and better in his daily life.

On the other hand, those who strongly believe that we should try to cooperate more and create well-being community, rather than competing against each other. Although, it has several advantages, people gain different perspective of projects and they find better solution of the problem. Cooperative person become more confident, eco-friendly and kind person. Cooperative work is essential for the well-being of individuals and society. Nevertheless, it has some drawback, person loss his self creativity and solving his issues independently, because he fully dependent on other person and make lazy person.

In conclusion, both have valid advantages and disadvantages. While, competition at work, at school and in daily life can become honest, hardworking, creative and responsible person. Try to cooperate become more confident, eco-friendly and kind person. In my opinion, the balanced approach, is that individual and community work have a double-edged sword.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation, and you give relevant examples from work, school, and daily life. The points about competition encouraging effort and cooperation bringing different perspectives address the prompt. However, several ideas are asserted rather than explained: for example, the claim that competition makes people “honest” is not supported, and the daily-life discussion is only one sentence. Your own position is also difficult to identify precisely. The conclusion calls for a “balanced approach,” but does not explain how people should balance the two or clearly state which view you favour. Develop fewer points with specific reasoning or examples, and make your opinion explicit in both the introduction and conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on competition, a paragraph on cooperation, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” help signal the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven, and ideas are often listed rather than connected through explanation. The competition paragraph moves from workers to students to daily life, with limited links between these examples. Some connectors are awkward or incorrectly placed, as in “While, other people” and “Although, it has several advantages.” The conclusion also repeats earlier claims without resolving the discussion. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each example to its main point, and ensure linking phrases express the relationship between ideas accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “cooperative,” “perspective,” “well-being,” and “double-edged sword.” These choices show an effort to discuss abstract ideas, but control of word choice and collocation is limited, and some errors make meaning unclear. For example, “an impressive thing” does not naturally express that competition is beneficial, while “loss the cooperative work in his colleague” obscures the intended point. “Extra curriculum activities” and “unwell his health” are also inaccurate expressions. Repetition of “person,” “better,” and “advantage” further limits range. Build a bank of natural topic phrases, check collocations and word forms, and choose precise wording rather than using ambitious expressions whose meaning is uncertain.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including contrast clauses such as “Although, it has several advantages” and “because he fully dependent on other person.” However, complex constructions are often faulty, and frequent errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence structure sometimes make the reader work to understand the point. Examples include “competition … make person,” “Those who argue that competition … make,” and “Cooperative person become.” There are also incomplete or awkwardly formed sentences, such as “Those who argue that competition at work make person more hardworking…” Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and finite verb, then check singular/plural agreement and articles. More accurate control of these basic patterns would make your ideas easier to follow.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.