Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-21

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 a debate regarding value of competition. A group of individuals believe It is vital to have competition in surrounding environment in daily life is a advantage. While other people say that an individual should try to adjust more that competing. Both the views and my opinion are elaborated further with reasons and example.

On the one hand people think dealing with competition is a positive thing in daily life. Which is true to consider yourself best among the rest. Individual should considered others as a competitors not as a friends. This will result to a great achievements as compare to others. Furthermore this will lead to build their self esteem people would think it is essential to be different from others then only they can achieved more. For example In world cup India always consider Pakistan as a competitor this is the reason to win world cup every year by India.

In contrast other believe that people should cooperate more, rather than being against with each other. They think cooperation may lead achievement and peace rather than being jealous of each other in their surrounding. This is because if employees or students will only think about competition these may disturb the environment. People willingness to help each other will no longer exist. Individual will became selfish if they will give more importance to competition rather than cooperation. For instance Indian actor Salman khan and their khan family are popular actors because they believe in corporation more than competition.

In my opinion I believe competition is a good thing. This is because to archive a goal it is necessary to be different from others. Cooperation may lead to good relationship but competition may help to achieve future goal to be independent in long terms.

To conclude, even if cooperation lead to peace and positive environment but competition is beneficial to get the goal and to boosts self esteem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both competition and cooperation before providing a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the example regarding the Indian cricket team is factually questionable and lacks depth, while the mention of the 'Khan family' is vague and does not clearly illustrate the benefits of cooperation in a professional context. To reach a higher band, you should provide more detailed, logical explanations for your arguments rather than relying on brief, anecdotal assertions. The position is consistent, but the supporting evidence needs to be more robust and relevant to the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'In contrast', and 'To conclude'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly inaccurate, such as 'Which is true to consider yourself best' or 'This will result to a great achievements'. The flow between sentences is occasionally interrupted by grammatical errors, which makes the progression of ideas feel a bit disjointed. Improving the variety and accuracy of your linking words will help create a smoother, more professional flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You use basic terms like 'good thing' and 'great achievements' repeatedly. There are also some noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'adjust more that competing' (instead of 'cooperate') and 'corporation' (when you meant 'cooperation'). While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated vocabulary and the presence of word-choice errors limit the score. Try to incorporate more topic-specific collocations and avoid repeating simple adjectives.

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. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Individual should considered'), article usage (e.g., 'in world cup'), and incorrect prepositional phrases (e.g., 'being against with each other'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be distracting. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, particularly verb tenses and pluralization, before attempting more complex structures. Proofreading for these recurring errors would significantly improve the clarity of your writing.

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

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