Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-13

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 6.0)

Competition and co-operation are two fundamental aspects of human interaction. Some people support competing in all aspects of life, while others prefer to work together. While opinions remain divided, I firmly contend that competition can drive individual achievement while cooperation is more beneficial for growth. Those who advocate competition assert that it is a powerful motivator that pushes individuals to excel. In educational setting, it can encourage students to achieve success. The foremost justification lies in the fact is that those who strive, be at the top in class they put more effort and perform better in exams. Furthermore, at work, competition can lead to increase in productivity. Employees are competing for promotions and bonus so that they become more popular. On the other hand, many groups prefer working together. This is best illustrated that at school cooperative work such as group project helps students to develop social skills like communication and teamwork. These skills are important for both social development and personal success. More importantly, at workplace, co-operation can lead more collaboration and more efficient methods to solve the problems. Teamwork creates more ideas and the relaxing environment while competition creates more pressure and burden. Moreover, many people work harder because of fear of lacking behind others. A further point worth considering is that competition leads to toxic environment in which people feel uncomfortable and under pressure. In addition, competition turns into jealousy and enmity. For these reasons, I remain firmly convinced that working together and being co-operative is a good thing to get more skills and for long-term success while competition can drive individual achievement and innovation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both competition and cooperation before providing a clear personal opinion. The position is consistent throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the benefits of competition are mentioned, the explanation regarding 'productivity' and 'promotions' is a bit brief. Similarly, the discussion on cooperation is relevant, but could be further extended with more specific examples or deeper analysis. The conclusion effectively synthesizes the arguments, though it slightly repeats the points made earlier. Overall, the essay meets the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, but requires more depth to reach the higher bands.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two viewpoints. However, there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother; for example, the transition between the benefits of competition and the shift to cooperation could be more sophisticated. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences are slightly disjointed, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'fundamental aspects', 'individual achievement', and 'toxic environment'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional inaccuracies in collocation, such as 'at workplace' (should be 'in the workplace') and 'fear of lacking behind' (should be 'lagging behind'). While the meaning is never in doubt, the lack of more sophisticated or varied lexical items keeps the score at a 6.0 level. Expanding the range of synonyms and collocations would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'The foremost justification lies in the fact is that' (redundant 'is'), 'at educational setting' (missing article), and 'lead more collaboration' (missing preposition 'to'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to be noticeable. The control over punctuation is generally good, but the sentence structures lack the complexity and flexibility required for a higher band. To improve, the student should focus on eliminating minor errors and incorporating a wider variety of complex grammatical forms.

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

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