Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-01

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)

Competition and cooperation both play an important role to bring out the best of potential among the people. But both can only bring out the desired result if performed in a right manner.

In competition, people aim for the same spot or result by using almost the same availabe resources but the one who makes best use of thier skills can outpace others.This situation can actually works out better by improving thier work efficiency. One example of it, when students have limited seats for the college admissions, they all work hard to get that position. At this point everyone is gaining better and rasing their chances. But this desperate situations can cause mental exhaustion among students like jealousy and depression. Which can cause even the high achievers to lose themselves and run astray.

On the other side, Cooperation is usually viewd as a positive behaviour among peers, where they all contribute together to collect the best points of everyone for one cause. As in some offices, colleagues often put great efforts for an industrial project. But it can sometime backfire too. For example, a group of people working on a industrial project by burning midnight oil, but one person is putting his blood, sweat and tears into it. At the end everyone is praised equally which can cause feeling of being deprived of much recognition.

My persperctive is that both should be balanced and managed properly. Both have their own upsides and downsides. Only when managed properly, both can go hand in hand and bring the desirable outcome.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you provide examples, such as college admissions for competition and industrial projects for cooperation, the analysis remains relatively superficial. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'why' and 'how' of these points. For instance, explaining the long-term societal impact of these dynamics would provide more depth. The conclusion is present but brief. Overall, the task is addressed, but the ideas could be more fully extended to demonstrate a more sophisticated level of critical thinking.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for each viewpoint, and a conclusion. You use some cohesive devices like 'On the other side' and 'For example' to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of cohesive devices is limited. Some transitions feel slightly abrupt, such as the jump between the benefits and drawbacks of competition within the same paragraph. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'outpace', 'high achievers', and 'burning midnight oil'. However, there are several spelling errors ('availabe', 'thier', 'viewd', 'persperctive') and minor collocation issues that occasionally distract the reader. While you attempt to use some idiomatic language, the overall range is somewhat limited. To improve, focus on accuracy in spelling and try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary to express your ideas with greater clarity and sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you successfully use some complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('This situation can actually works out') and article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some missing spaces after periods and commas. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and sentence structure consistency will help you move to a higher band.

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