Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-12

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)

Although it is sometimes thought that competing with each other in school and workplace is a good thing while others consider that cooperating is better than competing. In my opinion, I believe that cooperation is the best way to shine in life.

On the one hand, competition with your classmates and colleagues is a way to success in life because the inspiration becomes higher. In a competitive world, we always need to be focused to become succeed. Everyday we need to compete with each other, so if the student gain this ability from the beginning of their life, it will be much easier to get job in the future. However, compete with each other in every time is not a good thing because it creates jealousy, misunderstanding among friends. Moreover, if there is no helping environment in the office, it will be difficult to run and gain profit.

One the other hand, cooperation teaches us to help each other in difficult situation. In terms of working together in a group can solve a impossible problem very quickly. In addition, it is a less time consuming method to do any difficult task. Moreover, cooperating each other is a kind of humanity. As we know that human are social being so it is difficult to live alone. When we are living in a society, working in a office, we need to help each other. Furthermore, working as a team can enrich our knowledge and broaden our outlook. For example, when scientists discover the vaccine of COVID 19, they share the news and preparation process with the other scientists. If the scientists do not share information about it, then it might take a long time to invent the vaccine and many men would die in the time of pandemic. So, sharing information or having the habit of cooperation is good for not only themselves but also for the nation.

In conclusion, while people may vary in their opinion, I believe that cooperation is a good thing in both school and daily life compared to competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the benefits of competition and cooperation, while also presenting a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported with explanations and examples, such as the COVID-19 vaccine illustration. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed or broad, particularly the reasoning around career preparation. While the position is clear throughout, the extension of ideas occasionally borders on generalisation rather than deep analysis. Consequently, the response aligns well with the requirements for Band 6.5, though rounded to 6.0 based on the official descriptors for task coverage and development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs representing different views, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to signal transitions, such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical; for example, the opening sentence is a dependent clause fragment ('Although it is sometimes thought that...') rather than a complete sentence, and phrases like 'cooperating each other' show awkward relational transitions. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but overall logical flow suffers from minor mechanical linking errors, justifying a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'misunderstanding', 'outperform', and 'pandemic'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'compete with each other in every time' instead of 'all the time', 'cooperating each other' instead of 'cooperating with each other', and 'prepare process' instead of 'development process'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is never impeded, and the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, matching the Band 6 descriptor criteria.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures and relative clauses (e.g., 'if the student gain this ability...', 'when scientists discover the vaccine...'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms and agreement, such as 'the student gain', 'human are social being', and 'working in a office'. Additionally, sentence structure control slips occasionally, resulting in fragmented ideas or awkward phrasings. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band, placing it firmly at Band 6.0.

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