Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Although some people believe that competition is a good thing at every place such as at office, at school and in everyday life, I believe that cooperating with each other is more important than competing because it brings positive impact on people's lives and build collaboration among them.

On the one hand, people make competition with other persons to get sense of higher achievement becuase they dont want to see themselves at lower position. They may become motivate from their colleagues, put alot of efforts to get a good position. When they see other individuals, how they are being appreciated and providing with alot of benefits. This pushes them to eagerness to learn more to get same rewards. For example, an employee make competition with his manager to receive the same perks, he will put alot of efforts until he promotes. In addition, we see alot of people in our daily lives that they are pursuing their career because they want to compete with them. Therefore, they may become more confident in this way to achieve anything in life.

On the other hand, I believe when people work in a team, they focus on the learning rather than achieving a good remarks. They always seek to help individuals rather than defeating them or hiding knowledge. They work more better and accomplish their tasks in a group, and in this way they can create a peaceful environment for work. For eaxmple, if a person in a team is not competitive then their others team members always try to assist him due to their cooperative environment. All individuals will easily comfortable and work honestly when they recieve such type of assistance from their colleagues. Therefore, this learning will provide benefit them in the long term.

In conclusion, although people become successful in life by competing with others, I believe teamwork brings alot of positive attitude through coordination.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that competition is beneficial and the alternative view that cooperation is preferable, while clearly stating the writer's own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are generally relevant, such as discussing motivation and learning outcomes. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from minor generalisations. For instance, the example of an employee competing with a manager 'until he promotes' contains a linguistic and logical awkwardness. Nevertheless, a clear position is maintained throughout, placing this securely at Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, the two body paragraphs discussing opposing views, and the conclusion. Logical progression is present, though cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the sentence 'pursuing their career because they want to compete with them' where the pronoun antecedent is ambiguous. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but the management of internal paragraph cohesion keeps the score at a solid 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'collaboration', 'appreciation', and 'cooperative environment'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'make competition' instead of 'compete', 'become motivate' instead of 'become motivated', and 'good remarks' instead of 'good grades' or 'positive feedback'. Spelling errors such as 'becuase' and 'alot' also appear, along with awkward phrasing like 'providing with alot of benefits'. While communication is not impeded, these inaccuracies restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures using dependent clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and article usage, such as 'at every place such as at office', 'how they are being appreciated and providing with', and 'All individuals will easily comfortable'. Subject-verb agreement and word formation issues also occur, such as 'until he promotes' (active instead of passive voice). Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded, supporting a Band 5.5 score.

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