Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-07-27

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 6.5)

The debate over whether rivalry or teamwork yields better outcomes in work, education, and daily life is ongoing. While healthy competition can drive personal excellence and efficiency, I believe cooperation plays a far more fundamental role in achieving long-term progress and social cohesion.

On the one hand, advocates of competition argue that it acts as a powerful catalyst for motivation and improvement. In academic and professional settings, competing against peers encourages individuals to push beyond their comfort zones, sharpen their skills, and maximize productivity. For instance, companies that foster a competitive environment often innovate faster because employees strive to outperform one another. Similarly, in daily life, competitive sports inspire people to maintain physical fitness and discipline. Thus, rivalry can extract high levels of performance that might otherwise remain untapped.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response is significantly under-length at only 129 words, which severely limits your ability to develop your ideas. While you have introduced the topic and begun to discuss the competitive perspective, you have not addressed the 'cooperation' side of the argument, nor have you provided a clear conclusion or fully articulated your own opinion as required by the prompt. Because the response is incomplete and fails to address all parts of the task due to the word count, it falls into the lower band range. To improve, you must ensure you cover both sides of the argument and provide a balanced conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The writing is coherent and follows a logical structure. You use a clear introductory sentence and a transition phrase, 'On the one hand,' to signal the start of your first body paragraph. The ideas within this paragraph are well-linked. However, because the essay is incomplete, the overall progression is cut short. To achieve a higher score, you need to ensure that you have a full structure, including a paragraph for the opposing view (cooperation) and a concluding paragraph that summarizes your position. Using more varied cohesive devices would also help improve the flow between paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good command of vocabulary, using terms such as 'catalyst,' 'social cohesion,' 'maximize productivity,' and 'untapped.' These choices are precise and appropriate for an academic essay. There are no spelling errors, and the word choice is generally natural. To move into the higher bands, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and idiomatic expressions. Given the limited length, it is difficult to assess the full range of your vocabulary, but the language used so far is accurate and fits the context well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

Your grammar is strong, with a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. For example, the use of the introductory participle phrase 'While healthy competition can drive...' shows a good grasp of complex sentence construction. There are no noticeable grammatical errors in the text provided. The punctuation is also used correctly. To reach a higher band, you should aim to demonstrate a wider variety of complex structures, such as conditional sentences or passive voice constructions, and ensure these are maintained throughout a longer, more complete essay.

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