Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-28

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)

Several individuals believe that competition plays a crucial role in the individuals over well-being while others believe that cooperation enhance the communication skills and teach the individuals to work as a team. However, both viewpoints have their own considerable benefits, but I believe that cooperation holds substantial advantages as the individual acquire practice experiences and skills.

To commence with, competition is pivotal for individuals as it enables them to enhance their communication skills and their collective decision making, consequently decrease the conflicts between the team members and improve their empathy and trust towards each other. To illustrate, University projects or science research usually have required teamwork, so they help, respect and guide their peers and resultantly learn to cooperate with each other. Furthermore, in cooperate jobs, several individuals' necessity guidance about different challenges regarding to their work, therefore teamwork plays substantial role for their solutions. For instance, in workforce places teamwork is very crucial to achieve their goals in market.

Despite the aforementioned benefits competition also have considerable benefits as it helps the individual to work hard and achieve their goals in a better way than their competitors, as a result the person stay focus and can concentrate on their task and goals rather than wasting their time in guiding and advising their competitors. For example, competition boosts the students to work hard and silently while focusing on their academic challenges and tasks so the student will be able to achieve their target score conveniently without distraction.

To summarize the above discussion, although competition helps students and employees to do better in academic and workplace, but I believe cooperate guide the individuals not only about the teamwork but also teach to respect and trust the other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. The second paragraph, intended to discuss competition, actually discusses cooperation, which creates confusion for the reader. The third paragraph discusses competition, but the arguments are somewhat repetitive and lack depth. While the prompt is addressed, the confusion between the two concepts in the body paragraphs limits the clarity of the argument. To improve, ensure that each paragraph is strictly focused on the specific viewpoint it is meant to support and provide more distinct, logical examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'Despite the aforementioned benefits'. However, the logical progression is hindered by the content error in the second paragraph, where the writer discusses cooperation under the heading of competition. This makes the flow of ideas confusing. Additionally, some cohesive devices are used mechanically or incorrectly, such as the transition between the second and third paragraphs. Improving the logical link between sentences and ensuring that cohesive devices are used to connect related ideas, rather than just acting as signposts, will improve the score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with attempts to use topic-specific language like 'collective decision making', 'workforce places', and 'academic challenges'. However, there are several instances of incorrect word choice and collocation, such as 'cooperate jobs' instead of 'cooperative workplaces' and 'individuals over well-being' instead of 'individual well-being'. There is also some repetition of basic vocabulary. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding word-form errors, such as using 'cooperate' (verb) where a noun or adjective is required.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('competition also have'), incorrect word forms ('cooperate guide' instead of 'cooperation guides'), and awkward phrasing ('individuals' necessity guidance'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structure often feels repetitive. To improve, focus on mastering subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately. Reducing the frequency of these minor errors will significantly improve the overall quality of the writing.

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