Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-05

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)

Debate exists regarding whether rivalry or collaboration yields better results in education, career, and daily routines. While proponents argue that competition drives individuals to work harder to succeed, others believe that cooperation fosters a more supportive society. In my opinion, a healthy balance between both approaches is ideal for personal and community growth.

Competition is the source to push an individual to give its complete dedication and strength in a task. When a person thinks to win in any sort of test, its brain propels the whole body to give pure performance and attention to fulfill the given task. Tests among the employees in a firm or test among the students in a school bring many benefits. For instance, when a students are given task to make drawing of any object as a test with a reward, everyone will put their whole dedication to make the best. That's why several people think that competition should be everywhere.

While the opponents argue that competitions result in the less-cooperating-society. If students and employees are suggested and educated to do tasks by team work, they will become more intelligent, cooperating, and responsible. In the practical life, it is very crucial to have the quality of doing job with a team effectively. For example, students will be more knowledgeful and developed if they study together and share their ideas because it will give access to each student to various information that other knows.

In my opinion, there should be a proper balance in both aspects in order to develop a more successful nation as it brings both individual and community benefits. Students and employees should be given both competitional and team work tasks.

In conclusion, some people argue that competition is better way to develop students and employees while some believe in team work as better choice. Competition brings individual benefits while team work bring community benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both competition and cooperation and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, though some arguments are slightly underdeveloped. For example, the explanation of how competition 'propels the whole body' is a bit simplistic. The position is consistent throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main points. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more nuanced examples and deeper analysis of the implications of each approach, rather than relying on general statements about 'success' or 'intelligence'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'For instance', 'While the opponents argue', and 'In conclusion', which help the flow of ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. For instance, the phrase 'students and employees' is used frequently to link ideas. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'proponents', 'rivalry', and 'collaboration'. However, there are instances of awkward word choices or non-standard collocations, such as 'knowledgeful' (which is not standard English) and 'competitional tasks'. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precision and a wider variety of topic-specific collocations would be needed to move into the higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a students', 'the competition'), subject-verb agreement ('team work bring'), and awkward phrasing ('the source to push an individual'). These errors are noticeable but do not significantly impede communication. To improve, focus on mastering basic article usage and ensuring that subjects and verbs agree consistently throughout your writing.

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

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