Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-17

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)

Although there are people who argue that collaboration in professional and routine activities should be preffered rather than competing, I agree with those who believe that this competition is a good thing. While growth of skills and economy makes competition a considerable thing, there are points like the use of unfair means and mental disturbance are in favour of teamwork rather than contest.

On the one hand, many believe that competiton is a good thing as it improves skills of individual. As most of the humans are psychologically arrogant, being in an environment with constant rivalry motivates them to improve and upgrade their current level of skills. Moreover, from the perspective of an overall economy, desire to businessmen and corporates come first also helps them to grow, thus inderictly benefitting the economy. For example, as USA is a very competitive nation, the businesses are in a constant race to become number one, and this ultimately helped the country to be a developed one.

On the other hand, there are those who think that working people and pupils should stay united and not always be rivals of each other as it leads to a shared pool of resources. As different people have different abilities and qualifications, staying together helps the overall group to accomplish tasks that are not individually possibe. The farmers cooperative societies, for instance, are the group of farmers coming together and pooling their crops in order to negotiate a good price with their buyer. These negotiation power can only be formed by a group of people.

To conclude, I feel that constant but healthy competition helps an economy to grow in a long run due to development of qualification. The shared negotiation power of a group is not always a practical choice in front of the former one.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the cooperative and competitive viewpoints while maintaining a clear personal stance in favour of competition. The introduction outlines the two perspectives, and body paragraphs explore both sides with relevant supporting details. For instance, the discussion of the United States economy and farmer cooperative societies provides concrete examples. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or general, such as the mention of 'mental disturbance' in the introduction which is not fully unpacked in the body. Overall, the task is successfully and appropriately covered, aligning well with a Band 6.5 or solid 6 descriptor level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally mechanical or slightly faulty, as seen in awkward transitions like 'in front of the former one'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, ensuring the reader can follow the overall line of argument without major confusion, placing the performance comfortably at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'psychologically arrogant', 'pooled their crops', and 'negotiate a good price'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'preffered' instead of preferred, 'inderictly' instead of indirectly, and awkward phrasing such as 'desire to businessmen and corporates come first'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over multi-clause structures such as 'Although there are people who argue that...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including missing articles, incorrect prepositions, and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'there are points like the use of unfair means and mental disturbance are in favour', 'These negotiation power can only be formed'). Despite these recurrent slips, the meaning is generally clear, matching the criteria for Band 6.0.

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.