Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-31

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 6.0)

Some people argue that competitive environment at workplace, whether in school or in everyday life have a beneficial impact. While others believe that employees should work together and assist each other rather than rivalry against each other. I strongly contend with the notion that while healthy competition can motivate people to work harder and improves their overall performances in every field of life, however, supporting each other than competing provides substantial benefits.

One of the compelling argument is that competitive environment creates professional rivalry. Competition in workplace encourage employees to work harder and outperform to achieve their goals. While excessive workplace competition boost productivity and encourage professional growth, excessive rivalry create an unhealthy working environment. For instance, competition between students for marks create intense rivalry between them and can damage their relationship.

Other significant reason is that a successful workplace requires their employees to work together towards common goals. Rather than competing with one another employees should collaborate and pool their skills and knowledge to improve productivity. Excessive rivalry at workplace can create tension and undermine teamwork. For example, if two employees are competing for a promotion they may work harder, but hide information from one another or refuse to help their teammates, which can damage teamwork and create a stressful environment.

To conclude, while working in a highly competitive environment may increase productivity in a workplace but excessive competition can cause stress and reduce satisfaction as a result it will negatively effect the environment as well as mental peace of individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal position. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive. For instance, the discussion on 'workplace rivalry' appears in both the second and third paragraphs, leading to a lack of depth in exploring the broader implications of competition in school or daily life. While the prompt asks for a discussion of competition in work, school, and daily life, the response focuses almost exclusively on the workplace. To reach a higher band, you should ensure each body paragraph introduces a distinct, well-supported point that covers the scope of the prompt more comprehensively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different themes. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'for instance' and 'for example'. Additionally, the transition between the introduction and the first body paragraph is slightly abrupt. The flow of ideas is generally easy to follow, but the logical progression within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'professional rivalry,' 'outperform,' and 'collaborate.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'contend with the notion' (where 'concur' or 'argue' might be more appropriate) and 'negatively effect' (should be 'affect'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. To improve, focus on using more academic collocations and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical form.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'competitive environment... have a beneficial impact' should be 'has') and pluralization (e.g., 'One of the compelling argument' should be 'arguments'). There are also issues with sentence fragments and awkward phrasing, such as 'supporting each other than competing provides'. These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for basic agreement and verb forms.

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

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