Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

I personally believe that competetion is a good thing everywhere whatever they are at school, work and in daily life as well if the competetion are not include in anything what motivates people to do their best and to maintain the ego which was created after having a competetion with others and by any chance they win that competetion so in my terms competetion have a ability to change anyone's life if we take this as a change in our life not to put down others or to defeat someone.

Well others believe that we should try to cooperate more rather than competing against each other it is also true like we have to cooperate with others let them help and do the best for others to support them in whatever the conditions they are in if we really cooperate with each other they make strong bond in between each other and they taught us a leadership quality or teamwork which is also very important to work in a environment full of leaders or seniors.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response touches upon both views regarding competition and cooperation, presenting a basic personal opinion in the first paragraph. However, the student fails to meet the word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 175 words. This severe under-length prevents adequate development of ideas, resulting in a superficial treatment of the prompt. While the student attempts to discuss both sides, the arguments lack extension and full elaboration, which pulls the Task Achievement score down. Key parts of the task are addressed only partially due to the lack of supporting examples and overall brevity.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response is structured into two overly long, block paragraphs where the first represents one viewpoint and personal opinion, and the second addresses the opposing cooperative view. However, paragraphing is poorly managed, as the text consists of run-on sentences that lack proper punctuation boundaries. Cohesive devices are weak and repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'and', 'if', and 'well'. There is a lack of clear progression, and referencing is often ambiguous, making the text difficult to follow smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with several spelling errors such as 'competetion' instead of 'competition'. The range of words is limited, making it difficult for the writer to express precise meanings. Phrases like 'maintain the ego' or 'put down others' are somewhat informal or awkward in an academic context. While the general meaning can be understood, the restricted vocabulary and recurring spelling mistakes restrict the score to a Band 4.5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response demonstrates serious structural weaknesses. The text relies heavily on long, unpunctuated run-on sentences, such as the opening sentence which spans several lines without a single full stop. There are frequent grammatical errors, incorrect verb forms, and faulty sentence boundaries that frequently impede communication. The writer attempts complex structures using conditional clauses with 'if', but these are poorly controlled and lead to confusion. Simple structures also contain errors.

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

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