Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Some individuals think that competing

with others in various areas such as

at the workplace, at school and in day to day activities is a good thing, while others argue

that we should collaborate more than competing

with each other. From my perspective, both competition and cooperation are equally essential for personal as well as professional growth.

On the one hand, people compete 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 a related field, and thus become

more experienced and valuable for the job placement. For instance, exams such as Loksewa are considered as one of the most

difficult test formats in Nepal which selects only

around 5 to 6 candidates out of thousands of

applications for a position of a manager in the Central bank

of Nepal. To achieve this, individuals have to compete with each other.

On the other hand, cooperating with others helps in

developing someone's attitude in making friends and

gives a sense of belonging and togetherness by providing a friendly environment which

later assists in individual's personal growth. For

example, if a person alone has to manage

many sections of 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 in 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 collaboration is very beneficial.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views favouring competition and those favouring cooperation, and clearly presents the writer's own perspective in the introduction and conclusion. For instance, the discussion on competition is well-supported by a specific example from Nepal regarding civil service exams like 'Loksewa'. Similarly, the benefits of cooperation are illustrated with a practical workplace scenario about workload management. The ideas are extended and supported adequately, fulfilling the requirements for Band 7. Although some arguments could be explored in greater depth, the overall position is clear throughout the essay, and the main tenets of the prompt are fully covered.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, with a distinct introduction, two body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a clear concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used appropriately to guide the reader, as seen with transitional phrases like 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Furthermore'. However, paragraphing and referencing can occasionally feel somewhat mechanical rather than entirely seamless. For example, the sentence 'Because challenges force individuals...' is a fragment used as a standalone sentence, which disrupts the flow of the argument. Despite minor mechanical flaws in cohesion, the overall arrangement is coherent.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and subject-specific terminology such as 'workplace', 'professional growth', 'job placement', and 'collaboration'. Word choice is generally appropriate, allowing the message to be communicated without difficulty. However, there are some inaccuracies in collocation and phrasing, such as 'competing with others to achieve more growth in their career' instead of 'advancing their careers', and 'working against and with each other' in the conclusion. While the lexical resource is sufficient for some flexibility and precision, occasional awkward collocations prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses. There is good control over basic grammar, but the text contains several grammatical errors and punctuation issues. A notable error is a sentence fragment in the second paragraph ('Because challenges force individuals to do more than before which provides new information...'), which links clauses incorrectly. Other minor issues include slight slip-ups with prepositions and articles. While these errors do not impede communication and the reader can easily follow the arguments, the frequency of structural slips means the majority of sentences are not error-free, placing this firmly in the Band 6 category.

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

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