Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-27

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)

Healthy and fair competitions play an important role in building a sense of professionism and confidence. Some people believe that involvement of workers, and students in competitions is a positive thing, while others believe that we should mainly focus on cooperation, rather than competing against each other. I strongly believe that competition is good unless and until having a strong sense of sportsman spirit.

Firstly, when individuals participate in competitions conducted in their offices, and schools, it may improve their mental and physical wellbeing. For example, a student who participate in a cricket competition at his school, may improve his physical health, and it is a positive thing. In addition, if he had a feeling of superiority among other participants and try to hit them based on his personal interest is a bad thing.

Secondly, most of competitions are organized international as well as national level, and they have gifts prizes as a token of appreciation for winners, it may help participants financially. For instance, an employee who need money, and participate in cookery competition that is arrange in his office and winner will get prize money of Rupees 1 lac. If he wins, and may get this prize money, which improve his financial condition. But this may create a sense of failure among other participants which give overall negative impact to our society.

Thirdly, students who participate in competition at schools are more confident as compare to other students who only focused on their course work. Besides improving their confidence level, they may get a change to improve their personal relationships during games and competitions.

In conclusion, i believe that there are several advantages as well as disadvantages of having competitions in offices, at schools and in daily life, but in my opinion, their benefits overweights their harms.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the first and second points are supported with examples, the third point regarding confidence is less developed. The example provided in the second paragraph about 'hitting' other participants is slightly confusing and detracts from the clarity of the argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explained and directly linked to the prompt's core theme of competition versus cooperation. The conclusion is brief but effectively restates the position.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In addition', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions are mechanical, and the flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the benefits of prize money and the negative impact on society in the second paragraph is somewhat abrupt. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'wellbeing' and 'appreciation', but there are also instances of awkward phrasing or word choice errors, such as 'professionism' (professionalism) and 'Rupees 1 lac' (which is informal/region-specific). The repetition of 'competition' and 'participants' suggests a limited range of synonyms. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and a wider variety of academic vocabulary to avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('a student who participate', 'competition that is arrange') and article usage ('at international as well as national level'). Punctuation is generally functional, though some commas are used incorrectly, such as before 'and' in simple lists. While the meaning is always clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic verb forms and articles would be highly beneficial.

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

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