Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-05
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 6.5)
According to some individuals, competing during job, academics and routine life is positive aspect. While, some have opposite opinion that cooperation is better than competing against each other. According to my opinion, Cooperation is important than competition for more harmony and teamwork.
People who have opinion in favor of competition have reasons, because, competition have several hidden advantage to progress in employment, school and routine life. For instance, competition boosts motivation to overcome one's own weaknesses and strengthen inner potential to grow academically and financially. Students, professionals, and a common person needs to fight against the failure and a person who has ability to compete with others has more power to face the consequences of risks and identifying mistakes over the time, and deal with the threats courageously. Today, global world is more competitive and demands people who have work expertise in challenging environment. For example, students have to compete for university admission and employees have to compete for better job opportunities and promotions.
However, cooperation has much more benefits than competition. Cooperation teaches team work at work place and educational institutions. Today, in the modern world, individuals can not work in isolation. They need to work along for better growth and achievable goals. For instance, students have to accomplish different tasks in groups, and without learning cooperation, it would be difficult to achieve desired objective. Similarly, at work place, employees of different departments have to work together to meet the dead lines of the organizational goals. lack of cooperation will cause conflict among the employees and delay the operation and delivery process of the organization. overall, in society, every common person has to cooperate with each other rather than competition, so that a more harmonious society can build up.
In conclusion, Cooperation is much beneficial than competition as cooperation reduces conflicts, teaches to work in team. However, positive competition is also necessary for one's survival in life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported, such as the mention of motivation in competition and the necessity of teamwork in modern professional environments. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, particularly in the conclusion where the points are restated without adding new depth. To reach a higher band, ensure that each body paragraph explores the implications of the arguments more thoroughly rather than listing examples. The position is consistent throughout the essay, meeting the requirements of the prompt effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'For instance', 'However', and 'Similarly', which help guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the abrupt start to the second paragraph ('People who have opinion...'). The use of cohesive devices is generally effective, but the essay would benefit from a wider variety of linking words to improve the natural progression of ideas between sentences and paragraphs.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'isolation', 'harmonious', and 'courageously'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'competing during job' instead of 'competing in the workplace' and 'a common person needs to fight' which is slightly unnatural. Spelling is generally accurate, but the range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, relying on repetitive phrasing. Expanding the range of synonyms and collocations would significantly improve the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the modern world', 'a more harmonious society') and subject-verb agreement ('a common person needs', 'competition have several hidden advantage'). Punctuation is generally functional, though some sentences are slightly clunky. The student demonstrates an ability to use complex structures, but these are often marred by minor errors. To improve, the student should focus on article usage and ensuring that plural/singular forms are consistent throughout the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.