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)

It is often argued that most of the individuals think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. While others believe that try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. From my perspectives, cooperative attitudes plays a vital role in professional career and in daily life.

On the one hand, while competition at workplace can develop a harmful impact. Due to this, individuals can not work peaceful mind. Because it's a more challanging for workers. Furthermore, competition in educational institutions develop in a student to get more grades. While in professional field it's also a beneficial for companies to achieve a goal. In daily life, it's a detrimental impact on the individuals especially health. Individuals suffer anxiety and depression.

On the other hand, there are more benefits to cooperative with each other. Either it's a work place or academic. For instance, students feel easy and comfertable when all the students of the classroom cooperate each other. In this way, pupils academic performance will be increase. Furthermore, cooperative mindset and attitudes lead to encourage the workers.

Lastly, in our daily life it's develop a love.

In conclusion, there are some arguments of two point of views but in my opinion I believe that cooperative behavior plays a beneficial role in our lives either at institutions or professional career. For instance with cooperative mind increase a cutting edge technology. It's significant not only for individuals but also development for a nation. While competition has a detrimental impact in our life. It's create loneliness, anxiety and rivalry. Nations are bulid with cooperation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the advantages of competition and cooperation respectively, while also stating a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on the negative impacts of competition in the second paragraph relies on sweeping statements such as 'individuals can not work peaceful mind' without fully exploring why or how this occurs. Similarly, the conclusion introduces a new, disconnected idea regarding 'cutting edge technology' which is not adequately linked to the main arguments. The stance is present throughout, but the support for main points tends to be brief and under-developed, aligning best with Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into four paragraphs, following a standard introduction, body, and conclusion structure. However, logical progression is frequently hindered by awkward phrasing and abrupt transitions. For example, sentences in the second paragraph like 'Due to this, individuals can not work peaceful mind. Because it's a more challanging for workers.' demonstrate poor referencing and sentence fragmentation. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'On the one hand' and 'Furthermore', but they are often used mechanically or inaccurately. Paragraphing is present to separate the distinct views, but internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak. These features place the response firmly in the Band 5.0 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, with frequent word-choice and collocation errors. Phrases like 'develop a harmful impact', 'work peaceful mind', and 'cooperative with each other' reflect a limited range and inaccurate control of lexical features. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'detrimental impact' and 'cutting edge technology', but these are often misused or awkwardly integrated into the context. Spelling and word-form errors, such as 'challanging', 'comfertable', and 'bulid', are noticeable and occasionally cause strain for the reader, matching the characteristics of Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The grammatical range is quite limited, consisting of mostly simple or poorly constructed complex sentences. There are frequent, pervasive errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including missing verbs, incorrect prepositions, and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'cooperative attitudes plays', 'pupils academic performance will be increase', 'it's a beneficial for companies'). Complex structures attempted by the writer are often faulty and impede clarity, such as in the opening sentence: 'It is often argued that most of the individuals think that...'. Because errors are frequent and regularly obscure the intended meaning, the grammar falls into the Band 5.0 category.

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

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