Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-09

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)

Performing at the best level is an need of an hour. Some people believe that competition at workplace and academics and daily life is important because it motivates people to keep making effort. when you are in an environment where we see everyone making their space, efforts through hard work , this eventually gives motivation to freshers and other people to struggle. on a contrast, some people believe not everyone is alike and have same energy. everyone has different potential and can perform with different working abilities. in a competitive environment, where everyone is just working and not interacting with each other's builds a working tension among people that leads to anxiety, stress and self doubt. Such an environment may not produce healthy workforce, instead decrease reproducibility. in a school, where not everyone student's learning ability is same. if the students who grasp knowledge at first hand help others who are competitively low, may produce better results. but if they start to compete and hide their notes and keys, it would create sense of arrogance in good IQ and self doubt in low IQ students. likewise in a corporate world, where not everyone's ability, working experience, performance and strategy is same, it would be helpful if there is cooperation, help and better understanding. in my perspective, I don't deny the need of competition among people because it is the reason that makes people able to keep going and do better. but, I also believe that apart from competition, there should be cooperative and helping behavior among students at school, people at workplace and as well as at home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding competition causing 'anxiety' and 'stress' is relevant, but the explanation lacks depth and specific examples. The essay would benefit from more detailed illustrations of how cooperation functions in a real-world setting. While the position is consistent, the overall structure feels a bit rushed, and the transition between the two viewpoints could be more clearly demarcated to ensure the reader follows the logic of the argument more effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay lacks clear paragraphing, which is a significant issue for coherence. It is presented as a single block of text, making it difficult for the reader to distinguish between the introduction, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion. While there are some cohesive devices used, such as 'on a contrast' and 'likewise', they are sometimes used incorrectly or awkwardly. The logical progression of ideas is present, but the lack of paragraph breaks hinders the overall flow and makes the structure feel mechanical rather than well-organised.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'an need of an hour' and 'competitively low'. The word 'reproducibility' is used incorrectly in the context of a workforce, where 'productivity' would have been the appropriate term. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, the range is limited, and there are noticeable errors in word choice that occasionally impede the clarity of the message.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'not everyone student's learning ability is same'), missing articles, and awkward sentence construction (e.g., 'where not everyone's ability... is same, it would be helpful'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the placement of commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors means the student does not yet demonstrate the control required for a higher band score.

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