Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Some people think that competition at work and academic life is great, while others that we should to help more than competing. This essay will discuss both sides and reached at conlusion at last.

It is for some people who think competitive nature is good for both workers and students, beacuse in keeps alive a person motivate and saty on track. For example, a student who beleive in that tends to be more serious on study. As a result, help everyone to shine in the future. Furthermore, this helps both students and workers to be more hungry for success, which helps themselves to stand apart. Also, genearte ego, which help them to be more efficient on exams or bigger stages.

On the other hand, there are people who think students and workers can help each other in terms of any matter, since it will eradicate the mutual distance and make people more attached. For instance, a person who assist others and do the work together tends to be more faithfull. As a result, the whole industry will be proud and shine. Moreover, those who works for each other have the mentality for the others success. Making themselves less jealous of others and appreciate their work.

In conclution, some people beleive in competiveness, while others beleive in work together, I beleive a combination of process is good for everyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on competition versus cooperation and including a personal opinion in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is limited and under-developed due to frequent generalizations and repetitive points. For instance, the discussion on competition simply states that it 'keeps alive a person motivate and saty on track' without extending the argument with specific, concrete examples. Furthermore, the task is under-length, containing only 228 words compared to the minimum requirement of 250 words. This negative word count constraint directly impacts the overall task achievement. Consequently, the response aligns best with a Band 5.0 descriptor as the ideas are minimally developed and the task is partially incomplete.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, showing a basic attempt at a structural organization with an introduction, two body paragraphs addressing each view, and a conclusion. However, the overall progression is impeded by mechanical and faulty cohesive devices. Transitions such as 'It is for some people who think' and 'Also, genearte ego' are unnatural and lack clarity. Referencing is frequently unclear, and the mechanical nature of paragraph linking makes the argument difficult to follow in places. While there is a basic logical layout, the control of cohesive features is inadequate, which firmly places this performance at a Band 5.0 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently hindered by noticeable spelling and word choice errors. Examples include 'saty' instead of stay, 'beleive' instead of believe, 'genearte' instead of generate, and 'conclution' instead of conclusion. The student attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'competitive nature' and 'mutual distance', but these are undermined by inaccurate collocations like 'hungry for success' used in a non-standard way or awkward phrasings like 'combination of process'. The range is limited and minimally adequate for the task, meaning it cannot reach Band 6.0 due to the frequency of basic errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The essay displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and faulty complex structures. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'others that we should to help more' (missing verb and incorrect infinitive structure), 'in keeps alive a person motivate' (incorrect preposition and word form), and 'those who works for each other' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are also problematic, as seen in run-on sentences within the conclusion. Because attempts at complex structures are often faulty and errors are frequent, the writing reflects the Band 4.0 descriptors closely, though the presence of some correct simple sentences keeps it at a 4.5.

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

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