Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-18

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)

There always have been debate whether competition at work, at school and in daily life is necessary or should people try to cooperate more in daily life. In my opinion, healthy competition is necessary.

According to psychology, a little competition is important to bring drive or a purpose to someone's life. Without competition people would never improve themselves or try to be their best self like, if there is no competition among individuals, they might stay stuck in the same job even if it doesn't pay enough because they feel content and do not have the desire to upgrade. Lack of competition would also stop human developement at the current stage. Competition is also important at national level and not just at personal level. Countries compete with each other and try to bring better technologies, medicines and services for their people. In some spheres, competition becomes necessary, for instance, elections and selection in public service jobs. If there is no competition among political leaders, they would not try to improve countries' condition as there is on one to replace them. The general public would have to deal with inefficient public service officers beacuse of the lack of personels for this position.

While, there are a lot of benefits of some healthy competition, this could also have extensive drawbacks. Corrupt leaders, thevies, con artists and even atheletes taking drugs are all result of competition. When the desire of competition exceeds the healthy limit, it turns into something ugly. The lack of empathy and trust, even among families is the result of the competitive nature of human beings. Nowadays, people opt foul means to reach their ends like atheletes taking enhancement drug to win. This very competitive nature has turned every fun and enjoyable thing into ugly business, e.g, sports. Our social fabric has been damaged a lot because of competition among people in daily life. Instead of being something, where people learn some moral values, it has become something, where people learn to win no matter the cost.

Though, there are many drawbacks of competition and it can sometimes make life complicated but still a healthy amount of competition is necessary to push human development. An important aspect of competition is the limit within which one competes. If competition is not turned into obsession, it has magnificant outcomes for individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views on competition and cooperation, and clearly presents a personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The writer puts forward relevant ideas, such as how competition drives personal development, national progress, and necessary public selection processes, while also acknowledging significant drawbacks like corruption and stress. Ideas are generally well-extended and supported with examples, such as athletes taking drugs and elections. However, the prompt specifically asks to discuss competition versus cooperation ('should we try to cooperate more, rather than competing'), but the student leans heavily almost exclusively into the benefits and drawbacks of competition without deeply contrasting it with the active benefits of cooperation. Nevertheless, a clear position is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall progression with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing different aspects of the topic, and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'According to psychology', 'for instance', and 'While, there are a lot of benefits'. However, some cohesive links feel slightly mechanical or are punctuated incorrectly, such as starting a paragraph with 'While, there are a lot of benefits'. Referencing is generally clear, but transitional flow between sentences could be smoother in places to achieve higher band levels. Overall, the organization is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'developement' (spelling error), 'empathy', 'obsession', and 'magnificant'. There are several spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'thevies' instead of thieves, 'atheletes' instead of athletes, and 'beacuse' instead of because. Word choices are generally appropriate, though some phrases lack precision or contain minor collocation issues, such as 'opt foul means' instead of 'adopt foul means'. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly without impeding the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating the ability to construct conditional structures ('like, if there is no competition among individuals, they might stay stuck...') and relative clauses. However, there are notable grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the essay. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('There always have been debate' instead of 'There has always been a debate'), missing articles ('at national level' instead of 'at a national level'), and run-on phrasing. While these errors occur with some frequency, the majority of sentences are understandable, and communication is rarely impeded.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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