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)

In the modern world, people have different opinions about whether trying to outperform others is beneficial or whether working together is a better approach in different areas of life. This has become common and attracted significant public attention. This has become a topic of widespread debate due to its impact on individuals and society. This essay will discuss both views and state my opinion.

To commence, one of the major advantages is that motivation is to work harder in their particular domain. In other words, some individuals might be gain skills in competition and students will be achieve better grades. Moreover, the performance will be better in the long term and employer can achieve promotion in the short period of time. This is because competition can increase productivity and creativity in your work. Thus, it will be beneficial for individuals and society in long term.

Furthermore, another reason is why I support is that people share their knowledge and wisdom through this they can support each other. This is because the competition will create teamwork and employer work as team player to generate revenue for companies. In addition, a task will be complete in mean time and stress will be distributed into multiple employees. Hence, this will be profitable for individual and society in the long term.

In my opinion, cooperation is more beneficial because people can share their knowledge, support each other and achieve better results, although healthy competition can motivate individuals to improve their performance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear opinion in the conclusion. However, the essay falls slightly short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the task achievement score. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat underdeveloped. For instance, the explanation of how competition increases productivity is brief and lacks concrete examples. The arguments are presented in a general way, and the development of ideas could be more extensive to fully meet the requirements of the prompt. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments need more depth and specific illustration to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Furthermore, another reason is why I support is that'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the transition between ideas could be smoother. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the overall flow is hindered by some repetitive sentence structures and a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect the arguments more effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express basic ideas. However, the range is limited, and there is a lack of flexibility. Some word choices are imprecise or slightly unnatural, such as 'gain skills in competition' or 'in mean time'. There are no significant spelling errors, but the essay relies on common, everyday vocabulary rather than demonstrating a wider range of topic-specific or academic language. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and a broader variety of synonyms to avoid repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the fluency of the text. Examples include 'students will be achieve better grades' (incorrect verb form) and 'employer can achieve promotion' (missing article). There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and preposition usage. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. A greater focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is recommended.

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