Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-18

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)

There is ongoing debate about whether competition in workplace,education and daily life is beneficial, or whether should focus more on cooperation.I discuss both views in detail and also give my opinion below.

Firstly, At work competition is good thing because it encourages employees to work harder.it helps people to become more productive and it can also lead to promotion and better salaries.At school for students competition is important because it motivates student to study harder.In competition student may try to get higher marks and healthy competition can develop confidence and ambition that why students always try to get higher marks than the other student because they set the competition with other students.In daily life competition can motivate people to achieve personal goals.In daily life competition can encourage people to improvement.

On the other hand, Teamwork helps employs to solve difficult problems.people can share skills and ideas to other.Cooperation is that why important because it creates a friendly working environment.Students can help each other understand difficult subjects.Group projects develop communication and teamwork skills.It is also very important in this way because weaker students may learn from stronger students.In daily life cooperation is important for solving social problems.Families and communities can achieve more by working together.

In conclusion, Competition is useful when it is healthy and fair.However, cooperation is more important because people need often work together and it is very important for your daily activities

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the prompt. However, the essay is under the 250-word minimum, which limits the depth of development. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat repetitive and lack specific, illustrative examples. The arguments for competition and cooperation are presented in a list-like fashion rather than being fully explored. To improve, you should expand on your points with concrete examples or personal experiences to reach the word count and provide a more nuanced discussion. The position is clear, but the development of ideas is insufficient to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For instance, the transition between ideas within paragraphs is often abrupt, and there is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect sentences and arguments smoothly. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion could be improved with more varied transition signals. The paragraphing is present but the internal logical progression of ideas needs to be more refined to achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You frequently use the same words, such as 'competition', 'cooperation', and 'important', throughout the text. There is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of variety and precision in word choice limits the score. To improve, try to incorporate synonyms and more academic collocations related to the topic of workplace and education. Spelling is generally accurate, but the range of vocabulary is not sufficient to demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding articles (e.g., 'At work competition is good thing'), punctuation, and subject-verb agreement. Some sentences are fragmented or lack necessary articles, which affects the overall fluency. While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, ensuring proper use of articles, and proofreading for minor slips in tense and punctuation. Increasing the variety of complex structures while maintaining accuracy will help raise your score.

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