Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-23

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)

While competitive environments are common in school, work, and daily life, there is an ongoing debate about whether competition leads to success or if working together is a better approach. Although competition can motivate individuals to work harder, I believe that cooperation brings better long-term results and creates healthier relationships.

On the one hand, supporters of competition argue that it encourages people to achieve higher goals. In schools and workplaces, competing with others pushes individuals to improve their skills, work faster, and build resilience. On a larger scale, competition among businesses drives innovation, which leads to better products, improved services, and technological development for society. Furthermore, facing competition at a young age prepares students for the challenges of the modern workplace.

On the other hand, those who support cooperation believe that teamwork produces better outcomes than working alone. Many complex modern problems in business and research require different skills that one person cannot have by themselves. Working together allows people to combine their strengths to solve these problems. In addition, constant competition often causes high stress, burnout, and negative environments. In contrast, cooperative settings promote mental well-being, trust, and teamwork, allowing people with different abilities to contribute effectively.

In conclusion, although competition can encourage individuals to perform well, focusing too much on winning can harm stress levels and relationships. In my opinion, society works best when cooperation is given priority, while friendly competition is used only occasionally for motivation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views supporting competition and those supporting cooperation, and clearly states their own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, exploring how competition drives innovation and resilience while cooperation fosters teamwork and mental well-being. However, the response contains 239 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words. As explicitly instructed in the length check, this under-length shortcoming must be penalised under Task Achievement. Because the content is otherwise well-developed and addresses the prompt directly, the band score reflects the necessary penalty for falling short of the word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: the introduction sets out the debate and the writer's stance, the second paragraph explores the arguments for competition, the third covers the benefits of cooperation, and the final paragraph provides a balanced conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Furthermore', and 'In addition' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and effectively, making the overall arrangement very coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary with adequate flexibility and precision for the task. Phrases like 'competitive environments', 'drives innovation', 'complex modern problems', and 'mental well-being' show a good grasp of topic-specific language. There are occasional attempts at less common items, and word choice is generally natural and accurate. Although the vocabulary is not particularly sophisticated or extensive enough to reach higher bands, it is more than adequate to convey the writer's ideas clearly without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The response features a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating control over grammatical forms. Examples of complex structures include 'While competitive environments are common... there is an ongoing debate...' and 'Many complex modern problems... require different skills that one person cannot have by themselves.' Punctuation and grammar are generally well-managed, and the occasional errors that appear do not impede communication. The control over grammar is solid and consistent throughout the piece.

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