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)

As per some individuals, it is beneficial to have healthy competition in almost every aspect of daily life particularly at schools and workplaces. Others argue that instead of being a competitior for each other, we should focus more on cooperating. Both the opinions are essential to be discussed in detail before forming an opinion.

Taking into consideration the first viewpoint, it is advantageous to have competition in student as as well as professional life. Having highly proficient and smart people all around encourages to excel more in the respective fields. Not only does a high competition motivate individuals to work hard to overcome challenges but also provides them an opportunity to polish their skills. At workplaces, employees are always in the race of promotions. It there are highly qualified workers in an organisation, everyone will have be to extremely efficient and improve their talents and capabilities. In schools, for instance, in a class full of intelligent and smart students, 100 % efforts are needed to be put forward by every learner to score a good rank.

According to the other perspective, assistance is more important that competing. Rather than being a challenge for someone, we should be cooperative by nature. At workplaces, the experienced employees should help freshers to learn new skills so that they can conveniently settle in the new surroundings. Moreover, in educational institutions, average and below average pupils should be motivated and even taught by the intelligent students. It will help every child to improve his/her academics. For example, group study, which is possible only with cooperation, has proved to be highly useful for numerous students aiming towards academic excellence.

Having discussed both sides of the argument, I would like to state that although it is good to have healthy competition sometimes, but cooperating nature is definitely beneficial for every individual instead of competing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the views that competition is beneficial and that cooperation is preferable, while also providing a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported with explanations regarding workplaces and schools, such as mentioning professional promotions and group study. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed and tend to over-generalise, which places the response firmly within Band 7. For instance, the second body paragraph states that '100 % efforts are needed to be put forward by every learner', which is a sweeping claim. Overall, the task is answered adequately with a clear position maintained throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: an introduction, a body paragraph exploring competition, a body paragraph exploring cooperation, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader, such as 'Taking into consideration the first viewpoint', 'Moreover', and 'Having discussed both sides of the argument'. However, paragraphing could be slightly more sophisticated, and minor cohesion slips occur, such as the awkward transition 'It there are highly qualified workers'. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression is easy to follow, justifying a solid Band 7 rating.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, employing terms such as 'proficient', 'academic excellence', and 'educational institutions'. There are also successful attempts to use less common lexical items like 'surroundings' and 'cooperative by nature'. However, several word choice and collocation errors prevent a higher score. For example, the student writes 'instead of being a competitior for each other' instead of 'competitors', uses 'student as as well as professional life' (typographical and collocational awkwardness), and writes 'cooperating nature' instead of 'cooperative nature'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is never impeded, fitting the Band 6 profile well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as conditional and participial clauses (e.g., 'Not only does a high competition motivate individuals... but also provides them...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings scattered throughout the text. Examples include 'As per some individuals' (rather than 'According to some individuals'), 'everyone will have be to extremely efficient', and a redundant conjunction in the conclusion: 'although it is good to have healthy competition sometimes, but cooperating nature is definitely beneficial'. These errors do not impede communication, but they lower the proportion of error-free sentences, making Band 6 the most accurate descriptor.

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