Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-24
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)
It is frequently debated whether individuals benefit more from competitive minds or cooperation in academic, professional and social environments. While cooperation is beneficial in keeping the society harmonious, I strongly believe healthy competition fosters in individual innovation and success.
On the one hand, proponents argue that cooperation is undeniably valuable. In a workplace set-up there are certain tasks that are impossible to isolatly hand.For example, medical research, school projects and community development require collaborative methods for collective success. Certain tasks require cooperation to be able to be completed faster .
On the other hand, healthy competition is essential for the development of individuals academically and professionally. Competition acts as an incentive for improvement. Without benchmarks to surpass and goals to excel there would be nothing to drive individual to sucess.
In conclusion, striking a balance between the two is key although healthy competition is important for personal innovation and societal development.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student addresses both views regarding competition and cooperation and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the response is severely limited by the length requirement, as it contains only 151 words, falling well short of the 250-word minimum. Because of this significant under-length, the ideas are under-developed and lack the depth and extension required by the higher band descriptors. While the topic is relevant and the general position is clear, the brevity of the body paragraphs prevents a full exploration of the prompt, capping the task achievement score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text demonstrates a logical organizational structure with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each view, and a brief conclusion. Paragraphing is utilized, and basic cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are employed to guide the reader through the contrasting arguments. However, referencing is sometimes awkward, and the progression of ideas is stunted by the brevity of the response. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or repetitive, leading to an overall coherence that reflects Band 6 characteristics.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic discussion, utilizing terms such as 'cooperation', 'harmonious', 'individual innovation', and 'benchmarks'. However, there are noticeable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'competitive minds' instead of 'competitiveness', 'isolatly hand' instead of 'handled in isolation', and 'drive individual to sucess' (with a spelling error in 'success'). The lexical range is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and flexibility needed for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with complex structures attempted in sentences like 'While cooperation is beneficial in keeping the society harmonious, I strongly believe healthy competition fosters in individual innovation and success.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'fosters in individual innovation', 'tasks require cooperation to be able to be completed faster', and the aforementioned 'isolatly hand'. These errors occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader, aligning the grammar with a Band 5.5 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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