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)
People have different views about wether competition is a good thing or not. While some people argue that competition in differents field is a good thing, other believe that cooperation matter more then competition. In my opinion, we should try to cooperate with each other rather than competing agaianst each other.
On the hand, there are several reason why some people believe that competition is good thing. Firstly, its bring motivated to a person when he think about competition with his against party. For example, a person want to be topper in his class , So he always compitate himself with other toppers. He always try to get good marks then toppers . He will do alot o hard work for getting higher marks then others. Secondly, it bring energy to someone for sake of success. If someoen want to be more successful then his colleage , than he will do his best in office for getting promotion. he will try best to get higher salary. As a result, he will get success in office by competating with others.
On the other hand, others argue that we should try to cooperate rather than competition. One major reason is that competition will become harmful or damage mental health. If someone not get succes than other person , he will get depression and stress type phycological problems . For instance, Now a days in pakistan sucide rate of students are increasing . its all because of not getting more marks than his fellow . Such a lose for us . If student not get marks according to his expectation , he will try to kill himself. By this example , we felt that competition is good but if you fail than it will damage the person . Furthermore, Some people get jalsouy facter , when they did not get succes than his competitor . they will try to harm other person who get more succes than him. But if we cooperate with each other , when we will not suffer from such a problems .
In conculion, although competition can be beneficial but i believe that cooperation has more advantages .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views on competition and cooperation, and the student clearly states their own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as motivation and success in the workplace for competition, and psychological damage and increased stress for cooperation. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on students and exams in the second and third paragraphs relies on simplistic examples and over-generalisations without fully extending the arguments. Because the student covers all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, the work aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a logical overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, the view supporting competition, the view supporting cooperation, and the conclusion. Basic cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'On the hand' (which contains a minor omission), 'Secondly', and 'In conculion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the pronoun referencing becomes slightly confusing in sentences like 'If someone not get succes than other person, he will get depression...'. Paragraph transitions could also be smoother. Because the text is coherent overall despite some mechanical cohesive devices, it fits the Band 6 descriptor.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'psychological problems', 'expectation', and 'beneficial'. However, there are frequent spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'wether' instead of 'whether', 'differents' instead of 'different', 'compitate' instead of 'compete', 'colleage' instead of 'colleague', 'competating' instead of 'competing', 'sucide' instead of 'suicide', 'lose' instead of 'loss', and 'jalsouy facter'. While these errors are noticeable and detract from the quality of the writing, they do not completely impede communication because the overall meaning remains clear. This performance is characteristic of Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional structures like 'If someone not get succes than other person, he will get depression...'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the essay, particularly concerning verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and tense consistency (e.g., 'its bring motivated to a person', 'a person want to be topper', 'if you fail than it will damage the person', 'when we will not suffer'). Punctuation is also erratic, with misplaced capital letters and spaces before commas. These errors frequently cause difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited control over complex grammatical structures, placing the essay securely in Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.