Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-22

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 6.5)

Competition is often considered an effective way of encouraging people to perform better others believe that cooperation is more beneficial in work, education and everyday life. Although competition can motivate many people to achieve their goals, I believe that cooperation is generally more important because it allows people to share knowledge and achieve common objectives.

On one hand, competition can encourage people to work harder and improve their individual performance. When individuals compete with others, they often set higher standards for themselves and make greater efforts to achieve success. For example, students who compete for higher marks may spend more time to their studies and consequently achieve better academic results. Similarly, competition between companies can encourage them to develop innovative products and provide better services. Hence, Healthy competition can be a strong motivation for individual improvement.

On the other hand, cooperation enables people to combine their skills, ideas knowledge and experience to achieve a shared goal. This is valuable in the workplace, where many tasks are too difficult to be completed by a single person. For Example, a semiconductor company may consists of a team who include chip designers , verification engineers , programmers and managers who have are skilled in different domains and all together contribute to a same project. By exchanging ideas and supporting one another, they can often find better solutions than they would by working separately. Moreover cooperation can help people to develop certain skills such as team management, working in groups and having a constructive discussion at schools and at work.

In my opinion, while competition has an important role in motivating people to improve, cooperation should be given priority. Excessive competition can lead to burnout and people may stretch themselves in with an aim of defeating others rather than working together to contribute for a cause. A balance between the two is ideal, with competition providing motivation and cooperation enabling people to make effective use of their ideas.

In conclusion, competition and cooperation both allow people to combine their abilities and work towards common goals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the views on competition and cooperation and providing a clear personal opinion throughout. The introduction outlines the two positions and explicitly states the writer's stance. Body paragraphs explore both sides with relevant supporting examples, such as students competing for higher marks and a semiconductor company exemplifying teamwork. The conclusion synthesises these ideas while maintaining the stance that cooperation should be prioritised. The ideas are well extended and supported, fitting comfortably into the Band 7 criteria.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, signalled by appropriate transitional phrases such as 'On one hand,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In my opinion,' although there is a slight missing punctuation mark at the very beginning of the essay where a full stop is needed after 'better'. Cohesive devices are used generally well, though referencing and phrasing can occasionally feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, grouping related ideas logically. The overall progression of ideas is smooth, leading to a coherent reading experience.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary with some flexibility and precision, incorporating less common items like 'innovative products,' 'semiconductor company,' 'verification engineers,' and 'burnout.' There are occasional lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'spend more time to their studies' (instead of 'devote more time to' or 'spend more time on') and 'contribute for a cause' (instead of 'contribute to a cause'). Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and vocabulary choices never impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6.5 to 7 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The writer demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. There are frequent error-free sentences, such as 'When individuals compete with others, they often set higher standards for themselves.' However, a few grammatical errors persist, including punctuation slips ('better others believe'), awkward prepositional usage ('contribute for a cause'), and some clunky verb forms ('a semiconductor company may consists of' and 'who have are skilled'). These errors do not impede communication, showing a good level of control consistent with Band 7.

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