Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-07-25

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 8.0)

A healthy competition between peers and students is often encouraged at many workplaces and schools. While some believe it can lead to self reflection of the individual, others believe there should be more cooperation amongst them instead of a competition. This essay shows the compelling arguments from both sides.

Competition between two people can create a striving need to improve in each individual. For example, two students competing for first place in class can lead to both the students outperforming themselves in account to beat each other. A healthy competition in daily life is necessary to ensure people work to the best of their abilities. It motivates people to enhance their performance and achieve these long lasting goals.

On the other hand, excessive competition can create unnecessary pressure and damage relationships. When individuals focus solely on outperforming others, they may become unwilling to share knowledge or support their colleagues, resulting in an unhealthy working environment. By contrast, cooperation encourages people to exchange ideas, solve problems collectively and work towards common goals. This is particularly important in professions such as healthcare, where doctors, nurses and other medical staff must collaborate closely to provide effective treatment. Even in schools, group projects help students develop communication and teamwork skills that are essential in their future careers.

In conclusion, although competition encourages individuals to work harder and pursue excellence, cooperation promotes teamwork and more sustainable success. Therefore, I believe society benefits most when people are encouraged to compete fairly while also working together whenever necessary.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the benefits of competition and the advantages of cooperation. You clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it throughout the essay, concluding with a balanced view. The ideas are relevant and well-supported with examples, such as the mention of healthcare professionals and student group projects. To reach a higher band, you could further extend the development of your arguments by exploring the 'daily life' aspect mentioned in the prompt more explicitly, as the current focus is primarily on school and work environments. Overall, the task is fully addressed with a clear, consistent position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the transition between the two viewpoints is smooth, using phrases like 'On the other hand' and 'By contrast'. Cohesive devices are used effectively to link sentences and ideas, such as 'This is particularly important' and 'Therefore'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different stages of your argument. The flow is natural, and the relationship between ideas is easy to follow throughout the text, meeting the requirements for a high band score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with precision. Phrases like 'striving need to improve', 'outperforming themselves', and 'sustainable success' show a good command of language. There is an awareness of style and collocation, and your word choices are generally accurate. While the vocabulary is effective, incorporating a few more sophisticated or less common lexical items related to the theme of social dynamics or professional development could elevate the response further. There are no significant errors in word choice or spelling that impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 8.0

The essay displays a good variety of complex structures, such as the use of conditional-like structures ('When individuals focus... they may become...') and participial phrases. The majority of your sentences are error-free, and your control over punctuation is solid. There is a minor awkwardness in the phrase 'in account to beat each other', which should be 'in an attempt to beat each other'. However, such minor slips do not detract from the overall clarity. Your grammatical control is consistent, and you successfully use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms to convey your ideas effectively.

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