Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-11

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 5.5)

In most schools there is a competition for learners to compete with other students.Competition create a lot of benefits factor as students are motivated and their confidence level increases, in contrast we should also build team work rather than competing with school friends.

I believed that competition in schools outweigh the team work in academies.Firstly, competition in daily life and schools create a lot of beneficial reasons because students are more interested on his work while participating in particular quiz it tells about learner individual skills and how he is good in a particular topic for example in classroom there are 20 students learning altogether but teacher does not know who is giving 100 percent concentration in his studies so teachers conduct a competition in which a good amount of children participate in it and the outcomes are available for the guider and competitive person so professor will able to know about the weakness of a student.Although many students thought that these competition contribute the winning cash prize, the ones who are the winners of that competition and I firmly believed it is true.

Secondly, very few of individuals believed that we should try to assist someone rather than doing such competitions.In my opinion this approach is good for weak learners as they get help from teamwork, they will able to participate in collaborative learning while all the students are giving different ideas for example how to solve a algebraic sum with alternative method.

Overall, competition in school play a vital role for learners as they will achieve a winning prize and doing their work with more effort while team work is also a better idea than competition, as student can learn different ideas from dissimilar views.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. The explanation regarding competition is repetitive, focusing heavily on the teacher's perspective rather than the broader implications of competition. The second paragraph on cooperation is underdeveloped, lacking a strong link back to the prompt's requirement to discuss the topic in daily life. While the position is consistent, the supporting arguments lack depth and specific, well-integrated examples, which limits the score to a band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For instance, the use of 'In contrast' at the end of the introduction is confusing, and the transition between the benefits of competition and the mention of cash prizes is abrupt. While cohesive devices like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' are present, they are used in a somewhat formulaic way. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the phrase 'the outcomes are available for the guider and competitive person'.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'benefits factor', 'guider' (instead of teacher/educator), and 'doing such competitions'. The range is limited, and the student relies on basic terminology. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated collocations and the presence of repetitive phrasing prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede flow. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Competition create', 'few of individuals believed'), incorrect tense usage ('I believed that competition... outweigh'), and missing articles. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with spacing after commas. While the student attempts complex structures, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar limits the score to a 5.5.

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