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)

I support with the view that we should cooperate and suppport rather than competinng in work, school or our everyday life.

First of all, differnt people have different thinking and they see the world differntly. Apparantly, that's why some people think a competitive environment is good for boosting at work or performarnce at study and in other things too. Moreover, they think if they compete than everytime they will try to be better among themselves at work and it will make profit, similar in school they think if a students compare and try study more, then they will always try to be in the top positions and will be good for acamdemic.

However, this method may make some people and student to not work or study at all. Furthermore, they will try and when they will see even after trying they are not doing better than others, they will lose hope and won't even try.

Recently there was a news about study and attention of among teenage students and report shows that many of them don't even try cause they think acertain students awill always do wella nd even if they try, they won't be able to beat them, thus they have stopped trying. Again, another report of other school shows that all the students there are coperative and those who are better try to help others understanding the topic and all of them are douing better than before, not just in study but also in science projects. It is because when they work together, those who don't understand before, they can ask for help and also do well or tey to make like something of theirs. In addition, it is even same in workspace as not all understand things well but when they work together and help each other, they make a good environment and all indeed do better.

So, in the end, I think, we should be cooperative to each other rather than going against each other because it makes a good environment which assists everyone to be better at one point.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the task by discussing the views on competition and cooperation, and the writer clearly states a personal opinion in support of cooperation. Ideas are presented, such as the psychological impact of losing in a competitive environment versus the benefits of mutual support in schools and workplaces. However, the development of these ideas tends to be repetitive and relies heavily on generalisations rather than well-extended arguments. Phrases like "Recently there was a news about study" lack specific, well-articulated detail. While the prompt is adequately covered, the support remains somewhat basic, keeping this response firmly within the Band 6 descriptor where relevant ideas are presented but remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the writer attempts to use cohesive devices such as "First of all," "Moreover," and "However" to link ideas. Paragraphing is used to separate different thoughts, including a body paragraph dedicated to examples. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrase "those who don't understand before, they can ask for help." The progression of ideas can feel circular, which interrupts the smooth flow of the argument. Therefore, the organisation reflects the characteristics of Band 6, where logical progression is present but overall cohesion contains mechanical elements.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating the basic message of the essay, but it lacks precision and range. The student makes several spelling and word-choice errors, such as "competinng," "differnt," "Apparantly," "performarnce," and "acamdemic." Furthermore, there is a reliance on simple, repetitive phrasing like "good environment," "work together," and "help each other." While the student attempts some less common vocabulary such as "competitive environment" and "coperative," inaccurate spellings and limited lexical flexibility prevent the writing from achieving a higher band. These characteristics align best with Band 5, where noticeable errors and a limited range are evident.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conjunctions and subordinate clauses like "when they work together and help each other." However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ("report shows," "a students compare"), missing prepositions, and awkward phrasing ("suppport rather than competinng in work"). Punctuation and run-on sentences also impede the flow in places, such as the lengthy fourth paragraph. Because the attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty and errors recur across the text, the performance matches the Band 5 descriptors.

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