Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-19

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)

These days some people seem to argue that competition is good. On the other hand others are of the opinion that cooperation is better. However, in this essay I will discuss both the views.

In the first place, it would be quite true to say that competition motivates people. One illustration of this is that students study harder. Another major advantage of this side of the issue seems to be that competition improves products. For instance Samsung challenges Apple.

Yet there is a dark side to the picture which advocates that competition causes stress. For instance, students feel pressure. In addition to this, the other negative element, playing a significant role may be cheating For example,employees hide information.

Whereas, according to some school of thought it can be argued that cooperation achieves more. For example, teams save lives. In addition to this there is a prevalent belief among many people that teamwork builds trust. An example that can be put forward is flood relief.

Despite these advantages and positive elements the downside cannot be overlooked as some claim that cooperation reduces effort. For instance, students freeload. In addition to this, the other element, playing a pivotal role, may be laziness. For example, unrewarded staff relax.

In conclusion, I am convinced to believe that it is indeed a debatable issue which needs further analysis and discussion. However, in the light of the above-discussed arguments and examples, it would be quite safe to conclude that the advantages of cooperation or teamwork overweigh its disadvantages in many different aspects and far outweigh rivalry.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that competition is beneficial and the view that cooperation is preferable. You also present your own opinion in the conclusion, stating that cooperation outweighs competition. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and relies heavily on very brief, skeletal examples, such as 'For instance Samsung challenges Apple' and 'For example, teams save lives.' While these ideas are relevant, they are under-developed rather than fully elaborated with specific explanations or detailed scenarios. To reach a higher band, you need to extend your supporting arguments more thoroughly rather than relying on brief fragments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, competing views, and conclusion. You attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'In the first place', 'Yet there is a dark side', and 'In addition to this'. However, the progression is sometimes mechanical and disjointed due to the extremely short, fragmented sentences, such as 'For instance, students feel pressure' and 'For example, employees hide information.' Furthermore, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and paragraphs feel overly formulaic rather than flowing naturally into one another.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, but it remains somewhat basic and repetitive. You successfully employ some topic-related vocabulary such as 'competition', 'cooperation', 'rivalry', 'freeload', and 'teamwork'. However, attempts at less common lexical items are limited, and phrasing tends to be simplistic. There are also occasional awkward collocations or phrasing choices, such as 'I am convinced to believe' in the conclusion. Overall, the lexical range is minimally sufficient to convey your main points without impeding communication, placing it solidly in the band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing introductory subordinate clauses such as 'Whereas, according to some school of thought it can be argued...' and 'Despite these advantages and positive elements...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips, such as the missing space in 'cheating For example,employees hide information' and the singular/plural mismatch in 'some school of thought'. Complex structures are attempted, but they frequently lack smooth integration. Nevertheless, the errors are non-systematic and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow your arguments without serious difficulty.

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