Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-16

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 6.5)

We live in a society where everything is a competition. In this age where human beings are heavily reliant on social media, they often assume that whatever they see there is real and achievable. At school we have the toppers and the back benchers that are constantly being compared. At work, there are employees who are being evaluated and assessed according to targets and performances and in daily life we are comparing almost everything and everyone we have in our lives to others.

There's a saying 'Comparison is the thief of joy' which I believe is true to some extent but I do believe that there is something called a healthy competition. Now what exactly is a healthy competition? It's when you get inspired by someone at the same cerebral and physical capacity as you succeeding in life and achieving great things. There is no factor of envy in a healthy competition just inspiration. In my experience, sometimes you just have to accept the truth when it comes to success in practical life and work life. Some people are born with an advantage, others have to work very hard to be able to get to the level where those people started off from. You have to realize your own place and make competition worthwhile.

On the downside, this can cause massive stress upon individuals who take competition too seriously, especially children who are compared with other children. In practical life when a wife or a husband compares their partner to someone else's partner. Words are spoken but the feeling of resentment resides within that person for years. The children who are compared a lot grow up having resentment for their parents feeling like they were never perfect. At work life, we see a similar pattern where bosses usually favor the ones with the most numbers and targets achieved, little do they realize that these same employees could have been just as equally productive if not more if given some more training and attention.

In conclusion, I would say competition itself is not bad unless it's done by others. When a person self initiates a competition with a positive outlook, that's inspirational and it is not at all envious or resentful. Try to fix issues with your children, employees and partners rather than complaining and comparing because that road leads no where but sorrow.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both competition and cooperation views, while also providing a clear personal opinion. The writer presents relevant ideas regarding the psychological impacts of competition in various settings such as school and the workplace. However, some of the arguments tend to wander into personal anecdotes and slightly informal generalisations, particularly in the second and final paragraphs. While the position is clear throughout, the development of ideas could be more balanced and academic in tone to reach a higher band. Overall, the prompt requirements are fully met, earning a solid Band 6.5 to 7.0 range, sitting comfortably at 6.5 due to the conversational tone and slight under-development of the cooperative viewpoint.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall arrangement with distinct paragraphs that separate the introduction, the writer's definition of healthy competition, the downsides, and the conclusion. Progression is generally logical, moving from a general observation to specific domains like school and work, and finally to interpersonal relationships. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or conversational, such as starting paragraphs with 'On the downside' or 'In conclusion'. Referencing is mostly clear, though paragraph transitions could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, resulting in a coherent text that meets the criteria for Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'cerebral', 'resentment', and 'productivity'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though occasionally word choice or collocation is slightly imprecise, such as 'back benchers' (informal) and 'work life'. There are also minor mechanical or spelling issues, such as 'no where' instead of 'nowhere'. Despite these minor flaws, communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey nuanced points about psychological stress and competition. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and conditional structures. There are several good complex sentences, such as 'It's when you get inspired by someone at the same cerebral and physical capacity as you succeeding in life'. However, grammatical errors and punctuation issues are present throughout the text, such as sentence fragments ('At school we have the toppers and the back benchers that are constantly being compared.') and comma splices. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur with enough frequency to prevent the essay from reaching Band 7.0, making Band 6.0 the most accurate reflection of grammatical control.

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