Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-04

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)

Whether competition and cooperation in the workplace, educational institutions and in daily life are beneficial for individuals is a controversial topic. Competition makes people more hardworking and ambitious, while cooperation encourage mutual growth and innovation. In this essay, I will discuss both views and give my opinion on a balanced approach.

On the one hand, competition in schools make students more hardworking and ambitious toward their goals. Competition motivate individuals to work hard and achieve their goals.

When people try to compete wither others, they often try to develop more skills and improve their performance to be more successful. In educational institutions students compete for higher grades and scholarships. Similarly, employees become more productive and creative for recognition and promotions. In daily life people compete for better life so they become more hardworking.

Healthy competition can encourage people to set higher standards and work for them.

On the other hand, cooperation is very important for the development of a better community. When people cooperate with others they can solve complex problems and share their skills. In the workplace people from different department and organizations can work together to create more innovative things. They can be successful together. For example few years ago scientists, government and organizations worked cross border to develop the vaccine for COVID.

In addition to educational institutes students cooperate with other in group projects and assignments that develops teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills.

In my opinion, healthy balance between cooperation and competition is necessary because it can promote individual and mutual growth. Excessive competition leads to more stress and erode harmony in the society. Too much dependence on others make people lazy.

In conclusion, cooperation helps people learn from others and help in achieving common goals. Competition make people more hardworking towards their goals. So, a balanced approach is necessary for better development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The essay addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both competition and cooperation before providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of the COVID-19 vaccine as an example of cooperation. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the paragraph on competition relies on repetitive phrasing and lacks depth in explaining the 'why' behind the benefits. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting arguments could be extended further to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points and reiterates the balanced stance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two viewpoints. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In addition' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow within paragraphs is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly abrupt. Referencing is generally clear, but the connection between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to enhance the overall progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'hardworking,' 'goals,' and 'people.' While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'educational institutions,' 'innovative,' 'mutual growth'), the overall lexical range is somewhat limited. There are no significant spelling errors, but the choice of words is often functional rather than sophisticated. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise synonyms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'cooperation encourage,' 'competition make,' 'students compete... students cooperate with other'). These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. The use of punctuation is generally acceptable, but the lack of consistent control over basic grammatical rules prevents a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures while ensuring accuracy in basic agreement would significantly improve the score.

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