Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-13

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)

Some individuals think that competing

with others in various areas such as

at job, at school and in day to day activities is as

good thing, while others argue that we should

cooperate more than competing with each other. From

my perspective, both competition and cooperate are

equally essential for personal as well as professional

growth.

On the one hand, people compet with others to

achieve more growth in their career. Because

challenges force individuals to do more

than before which provides new information and

knowledge of related field, and thus become

more experienced and worthy for the job placement.

For instance, exam such as Loksewa is considered as a

most difficult test format in Nepal which selects only

around 5 to 6 candidates out of thousands of

application for a position of a manager in Central bank

of Nepal. To achieve this individuals have to compet

with each other.

On the other hand, cooperating with others help in

developing once attitude in making friends and

give a sense of belonging and togetherness which,

later assist in individuals personal growth. For

example, if a person alone have to manage

many sections of a work it consumes more time

whereas, if many people are

assigned for the same work it could

be easy for them to handle it in a proper way

and also saves time. Furthermore,

it makes the workers more experienced on one field.

In conclusion, both working against and with

each other is crucial for individuals to improve

themselves while maintaining a good relationship

with others. I strongly support this fact because

balance between competition and cooperate is needed.

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, and the student provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are extended with relevant examples, such as the mention of the Loksewa exam in Nepal to illustrate job competition, and a workplace scenario to illustrate cooperation. However, some arguments lack deeper elaboration, keeping the development at a Band 6.0 level. For instance, the explanation of how cooperation builds a sense of belonging is somewhat brief before jumping to an example. Overall, the prompt requirements are fully met, and the stance is maintained consistently throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organization with a traditional four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts between ideas, such as 'On the one hand,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In conclusion.' However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like 'if a person alone have to manage' and grammatical disjointedness between clauses. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points of view, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother and more sophisticated to reach a higher band level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'professional growth,' 'job placement,' and 'sense of belonging.' However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'at job' instead of 'at work,' 'compet' instead of 'compete,' 'developing once attitude' instead of 'someone's attitude,' and 'on one field' instead of 'in one field.' These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, as precise control over word forms and collocations is inconsistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures, such as 'if a person alone have to manage many sections of a work it consumes more time.' Grammatical accuracy is inconsistent, with frequent errors including subject-verb agreement issues ('cooperating... help,' 'a person alone have'), spelling mistakes ('compet' instead of 'compete'), and awkward word forms ('cooperate' used as a noun instead of 'cooperation'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they cause noticeable difficulty and place the response firmly in the Band 5.0 range.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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