Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Firstly, competition can make people work harder . for example , students may study more because they want to get higher marks than others . at works , employees may improve their skills to get better positions . therefore , healthy competition can motivate people to do their best . however, cooperation is very important. when a people work together they can share many ideas and help each other. this makes difficult work easier. for example , students can work together on a school projects . one student can collect information. in this way they can finish the work fast and learn from each other. but student and workers life in same balance. in my opinion , healthy competition is good , but too much competition cause stress and problems .therefore , people should compete in a positive way and also cooperate with others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is significantly under the required 250-word minimum, reaching only 144 words. Because of this, the ideas are severely underdeveloped. While you touch upon both competition and cooperation, the discussion lacks the depth and supporting evidence required for an academic essay. You mention that competition motivates and cooperation helps, but these points are stated rather than explored. To improve, you must expand each body paragraph with detailed examples and analysis. The position is stated at the end, but the lack of length prevents a full development of the argument, which is a requirement for higher band scores.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks proper paragraphing, as it is presented as a single block of text. While there is a basic attempt to sequence ideas using transition words like 'Firstly', 'however', and 'therefore', the overall structure is weak. The logical progression is hindered by the brevity of the response. Cohesive devices are used in a somewhat mechanical way, and the lack of clear paragraph breaks makes the text difficult to follow. To improve, you should organize your essay into a clear introduction, two distinct body paragraphs, and a conclusion, ensuring that each paragraph focuses on a single main idea.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive. You use simple terms like 'work harder', 'good thing', and 'help each other'. There is little evidence of less common lexical items or collocations that would demonstrate a higher level of proficiency. Phrases like 'at works' are grammatically incorrect and indicate a lack of precision. To achieve a higher score, you need to expand your vocabulary to include more academic and topic-specific terminology, such as 'incentivize', 'collaborative environment', or 'professional development', and ensure that words are used in the correct context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors, including issues with articles ('a people', 'a school projects'), subject-verb agreement, and pluralization ('at works', 'student and workers life'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with spaces placed before periods and commas. The sentence structures are predominantly simple, with very few attempts at complex sentences. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, and the correct use of articles. You should also practice combining simple sentences into more complex structures using subordinating conjunctions to demonstrate a wider range of grammatical control.

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