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)
A lot of people think that competition in different sectors in daily life is good thing, while others think that cooperating is more benefical. From my perspective, Competition is the most productive way that lead people to work harder and reveal the right level of people.
On the one hand, cooperation allow to people to complete each other, where it does not require from everybody to be perfect, if someone was bad in specefic thing, it gives the acces to the other to help him to improve more, and this can help the people to progress better, we can give the example with the countries inside the Europe union, where every single country help the other one, to improve their shortcomings.
On the other hand, competetion can lead the communite to head toward hard working, which can allow to every one to do their best in their field, and like that we can get the best results in many sectors, and also it shows the real abilities of people, also don't give the chance to people to hide behind the better once, so I believe that competition is the effective way to improve. For instance, the competetion in companies of the internet in France, allow to people to receive the best offers, so every company try to attract the biggest number of the communite.
In conclusion, cooperation give the acces to people to complete each other, while i believe that competetion is the best way to hard work and improve more.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the views on cooperation and competition, and clearly states the writer's own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as the example of internet companies in France to support competition, and the European Union example to illustrate cooperation. However, the development of these ideas remains somewhat limited and superficial, tending towards generalisations rather than deep exploration. For instance, the discussion on cooperation lacks detailed elaboration on how it fosters productivity in varied settings beyond a brief mention of mutual help. Nevertheless, a clear position is maintained throughout the essay. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors, as all parts of the task are addressed with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing viewpoints. However, cohesion at the sentence level is frequently faulty or mechanical. The writer relies heavily on basic cohesive devices and transitional phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand', but sentence structures often run on with comma splices or confusing referencing (e.g., 'where it does not require from everybody...'). Paragraph transitions lack smooth progression, and the tracking of referents (like 'him' and 'the other') can be unclear. These limitations in managing cohesion accurately place the response firmly at Band 5.5, which bridges the gap between Band 5 and Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating central ideas related to work, school, and daily life. There are attempts to use less common items such as 'benefical', 'shortcomings', and 'attract the biggest number', though these are often accompanied by noticeable spelling errors ('benefical', 'communite', 'competetion') and word-choice inaccuracies (e.g., 'reveal the right level of people'). While communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of lexical errors and limited precision in word collocation prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The vocabulary used is minimally adequate, fitting the criteria for a Band 5 score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and preposition usage. Examples include 'competition is the most productive way that lead people' and 'cooperation allow to people to complete each other'. Run-on sentences connected incorrectly with commas are also recurrent. While the meaning remains mostly discernible to the reader, the density of grammatical errors causes noticeable difficulty and prevents the mastery of complex structures. This overall control of grammar corresponds to a Band 5 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.