Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In this modern era, competition is increased in every field. Many people believe that it is a good thing because it can be bnefecial. However others argue that we should listen instead of compete with each other. I believe that we should try to be cooperative rather than competing.

on the first hand, competition is everywhere nowadays such as at work, school and daily life people believe that a people can be productive due to competition. To elaborate, in schools students participate in competition like games practicals and related with technology. Students prefer to perform best in such competition, like if they will work on a project, their thinking capacity will increase. Moreover, at work people prefer to do best for prmotion. To explain, employees also competing each other, they want to do best for the company to raise position and get bonus in firms.

On the other hand, due to cooperation people can enhance their knowledge. To elaborate, many individual have lots of skills, if we will try to listen each other we also can get such skills. Furthermore, due to compititions, many friendships are afected at work palaces, such as friends also racing in competitions and they prefer to prove them best, they did not see that he or she is my friend. In addition, due to compete with each other people can get health isuues, it can be scary for their mental health probems.

In conclusion, while competition can be good in every fields for students and employees also. However it can braek strong bond among employees.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that competition is beneficial and the view that cooperation should be prioritised, while also stating a clear personal position in the introduction. The ideas presented, such as increased productivity at school and work through competition versus the mental health impacts and damage to relationships through excessive rivalry, are relevant. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on work competition briefly mentions promotions and bonuses, but lacks deeper extension or more concrete real-world examples. Additionally, there are minor misinterpretations of the prompts, such as suggesting people should 'listen instead of compete', which slightly shifts the focus from cooperation to communication. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing it at a Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into four standard paragraphs, showing an attempt at a logical structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the progression of ideas is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions, mechanical cohesive devices (such as 'To elaborate', 'To explain', and 'On the first hand'), and repetitive phrasing. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within the body paragraphs is faulty at times, making the flow somewhat choppy. For example, the sentence 'on the first hand, competition is everywhere nowadays such as at work, school and daily life people believe that a people can be productive due to competition' crams multiple clauses together without adequate punctuation or smooth conjunctions. Referencing and pronoun use are also occasionally unclear, leading to a Band 5.5 performance for this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate to the topic, including words like 'productive', 'participation', 'friendships', and 'mental health'. However, there are numerous spelling errors ('bnefecial', 'prmotion', 'compititions', 'afected', 'palaces', 'isuues', 'braek') and awkward word choices ('racing in competitions', 'health isuues', 'mental health probems'). The lexical range is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but the high frequency of spelling and collocation errors impedes the precision of the writing. These persistent inaccuracies prevent the essay from reaching Band 6, anchoring the lexical score firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at structures like conditional clauses ('if they will work on a project') and subordinate clauses. However, control over grammar is weak, with frequent errors in tense, verb agreement, and preposition use. Examples include 'competition is increased' instead of 'competition has increased', 'we will try to listen each other', and 'due to compete with each other'. Punctuation errors are also common, such as run-on sentences and missing commas around introductory phrases. Because these grammatical errors frequently cause strain for the reader and demonstrate inconsistent control over complex structures, the appropriate score is Band 5.0.

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