Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-26

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 6.5)

The discussion of competition amongst peers or colleagues creates a division of opinion on whether they think it is necessary or not. This essay discusses both sides and argues why working collectively is better than competing against others.

For those who believe in competition may view it as a mere motivation to reach their highest potential. For instance, schools are often pushing their students to compete with their own peers for the highest grades or to collect as many medals as possible from other extra activities such as sport or art competition. Many see this system as a part of a healthy competition, where students put out their best effort to thrive academically.

However, competing comes with comparison. In order for us to see others as our competitor means that we have to compare our own abilities and skills with theirs. Once we have compared, then naturally we will be setting goals and standards to better ourselves. In a workplace, where assessment of our performance is not as simple as in school settings, this comparing habit may cause a high level of stress which can lead to burnout from having to function excessively. For example, agreeing to increase our working hours to prove how capable we are compared to our co-workers often means we have less time to allow ourselves to have a break and focus on our personal life. Studies show burnout amongst professionals often starts from lack of self-care routine and tendencies to taking on significant amount of work load. Working together with colleagues, such as sharing responsibilities, can decrease our chances of experiencing job-related stress and burnout making cooperating with others has its significant benefits as well.

This essay agrees with the idea of working together with others as a part of allowing ourselves to slow down in life and get along better with the people in our lives.

In short, competition can be useful to have every now and then, but it is also worth a consideration that focus on our personal improvement and trying to be better without trying to compete against each other can be a wiser option.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal position. The ideas are relevant, particularly the discussion on the psychological impact of competition in the workplace. However, the development is somewhat uneven; while the negative aspects of competition are explored in detail, the positive side is relatively brief. The conclusion is a bit abrupt and could have better synthesised the main points. Overall, the response meets the requirements of the prompt by discussing both views and maintaining a consistent stance throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'For instance', 'However', and 'In short' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the phrase 'making cooperating with others has its significant benefits as well', which is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow of the sentence. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas remains clear throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated phrasing like 'thrive academically' and 'burnout'. There are some instances of slightly unnatural collocation, such as 'comparing habit' instead of 'habit of comparison' or 'tendencies to taking on' instead of 'tendency to take on'. While the range is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score. The word choices are functional but rarely demonstrate a high level of sophistication or idiomatic control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical slips, such as 'For those who believe in competition may view it' (incorrect subject-verb structure) and 'tendencies to taking on' (incorrect prepositional phrase). Punctuation is generally accurate, but some sentences are slightly clunky due to awkward phrasing. While the errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching the 7.0 band, which requires more frequent error-free sentences and better control over complex structures.

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

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