Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-14

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 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.This essay will discuss both perspectives before explaining why I believe that an individual competing against each other but also need to cooperate more.

On one hand Competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing.Firstly it helps individual by encouring people to work harder and improve skills in order to outperfrom others .For instance,in schools children often compete for higher grades may study more consistently and develop better learning habits.Similarly,Competition at works improves employee perfromance and motives to work hard to acheive better results.

On the other hand, cooperation can create a more supportive and productive environment. When people work together, they can share their knowledge, skills and ideas, which can lead to better solutions to problems. For instance, in a workplace, employees from different departments can cooperate on a project and combine their expertise to achieve a common goal. Cooperation is also particularly important in schools because students can learn from one another and develop communication and teamwork skills. In my opinion, these benefits make cooperation more valuable than competition in many situations.

In conclusion, competition can encourage people to work harder and achieve higher standards, whereas cooperation allows individuals to share knowledge and accomplish common goals. Although both approaches have their advantages, I believe that cooperation should be given greater importance because it promotes teamwork and produces more sustainable results.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both competition and cooperation, and clearly states an opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as children competing for higher grades and employees collaborating on workplace projects. However, the thesis statement in the introduction contains a noticeable grammatical slip ("an individual competing against each other"), which slightly impacts clarity. The arguments are generally well-developed and fulfil the requirements of the task, meeting the Band 6.5 to 7.0 standard. Overall, the response is on-topic and covers the prompt adequately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, some mechanical errors occur, such as a missing space and punctuation slip at the end of the first paragraph ('each other.This essay...'), and the referencing in the thesis is slightly confusing. Despite these minor cohesive flaws, the logical organization is clear, warranting a solid Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'outperform', 'sustainable results', and 'expertise'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'encouring' instead of encouraging, 'perfromance' instead of performance, and 'motives' instead of motivates. These inaccuracies indicate a Band 6 level, where vocabulary is sufficient to communicate meaning, but frequent slips in spelling and word formation prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses effectively in places, such as 'When people work together, they can share their knowledge...'. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in punctuation, capitalization, and phrasing, such as missing spaces after periods, capitalization issues ('For instance,in schools'), and awkward phrasing like 'an individual competing against each other'. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they restrict the grammar score to Band 6.0 due to the accumulation of mechanical and structural inaccuracies.

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.