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)
Competition is an important part of our daily life. Some people think that competition at work, school and in daily life is good, while others believe that people should cooperate more. I think both competition and cooperation are important, but cooperation is better in many situations.
On the one hand, competition can make people work harder. At school, students may compete with each other to get good marks. This can encourage them to study more and improve their knowledge. At work, employees can also compete for a promotion or a better position. Because of this, they may try to complete their work better and faster. Therefore, competition can help people become more hardworking and successful.
On the other hand, too much competition can have some negative effects. People may feel stressed when they always try to be better than others. Sometimes, it can also create jealousy between people. Cooperation is useful because people can share their ideas and help each other. For example, students can work together on a project and complete it more easily.
In conclusion, competition can motivate people to improve themselves, but I believe cooperation is more important because it helps people work together and achieve their goals. if we cooperate each other so we can archive our goal without any dispute.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views that competition is beneficial and that cooperation is preferable, while also stating a clear personal position. Ideas are presented and supported with relevant examples, such as students competing for good marks and working together on projects. However, the response falls short of the minimum length requirement, containing 215 words instead of the required 250 words. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, restricting the response to Band 5.5 under Task Achievement due to the negative penalty applied for failing to meet the word count.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Therefore' are employed to guide the reader through the arguments. However, referencing and progression are occasionally basic or mechanical, and the final sentence contains cohesion errors ('if we cooperate each other so we can archive our goal'). Overall, the organisational structure is sufficient for a Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with appropriate general terms such as 'competition', 'cooperation', 'promotion', 'successful', and 'stressed'. There are some attempts to use less common items, but there are also notable lexical and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'archive' instead of 'achieve'. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. However, the meaning remains clear throughout, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and subordinate clauses ('At school, students may compete with each other to get good marks'). There are some successful complex structures, but grammatical errors are noticeable towards the end of the text, particularly in the final sentence ('if we cooperate each other so we can archive our goal'), which contains a redundancy and non-standard prepositional use. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect the frequent errors characteristic of Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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