Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-30

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)

Due to the development of growing awareness, individuals around the world are profoundly concerned about the competition. Some individuals believe that competition at work, at school and in a daily life is a good thing. In the case of others, the opposite is true. In this easy, i will present a full fledged discussion on either stance prior to drawing a conclusion including my perception.

There are a considerable number of individual out there who sincerely hold the belief that, some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing for it has a significant influence on people or children. To strengthen their stance, as a result, they put forward a compelling array of convincing arguments. Among them, the one that undoubtedly stands out is synonymous with improving their ability. On other words, on the condition that people work hard it has no surprise they will gain experience. To cite and example, we see many single child student wants to be first in exam because it is a competition for them. As a result, it brings absolutely positive impacts on student.

Instead of taking into account of former viewpoint, however, some people nurturing the opposite thought state that others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. To be more precise, in the even that people cooperate to others without any iota of doubt they will not reach goals before them. In consequence, it brings undesirable impact for the people.

In essence, having thoroughly analysed the statement from various angles, it is needless to say that either side has strong arguments. However, I wholeheartedly believe that competition is great influence for every individuals to build their career.

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 conclusion. However, the development of ideas is limited. The arguments provided, such as 'improving ability' through competition, are somewhat superficial and lack detailed explanation or concrete, well-integrated examples. The student repeats the prompt's wording in the body paragraphs, which reduces the originality of the content. To improve, the student should focus on expanding their arguments with specific, logical reasoning and more detailed real-world examples rather than relying on vague statements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which is a positive feature. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For instance, 'In other words' and 'In consequence' are used, but the logical flow between sentences is frequently disrupted by awkward phrasing and repetitive sentence structures. The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the transition between the two viewpoints is abrupt. To reach a higher band, the student needs to use a wider range of linking words more naturally and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, logical progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward collocations and word choice errors, such as 'full fledged discussion' and 'single child student'. The student relies on basic vocabulary and occasionally uses phrases that do not fit the context, such as 'nurturing the opposite thought'. To improve, the student should focus on learning topic-specific collocations and using more sophisticated vocabulary to express complex ideas with greater accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'a considerable number of individual'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'in the even that people cooperate to others'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence construction and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is essential.

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

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