Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Some people believe that competition at work, at school and in everyday life is beneficial, while others argue that people should cooperate rather than compete with one another. Although competition can encourage people to work harder, I believe that cooperation is more important for achieving long-term success.

On the one hand, competition can have several positive effects. Firstly, it can motivate people to improve their performance and achieve their goals. For example, students who compete with their classmates may study harder and try to obtain better results in examinations. Similarly, competition in the workplace can encourage employees to be more productive and develop new skills. In addition, a reasonable level of competition can help people become more confident and determined when facing challenges.

On the other hand, cooperation can be more beneficial in many situations. When people work together, they can share their knowledge, skills and ideas, which can lead to better solutions. For instance, in a workplace, employees from different departments can cooperate on a project and use their individual skills to achieve a common goal. Cooperation is also particularly important in daily life because people often need to support one another. Excessive competition, by contrast, may create stress, jealousy and conflict, especially when people become more concerned about winning than working effectively with others.

In my opinion, both competition and cooperation have their advantages, but cooperation should be given greater importance. Healthy competition can motivate individuals to improve, whereas cooperation allows people to achieve goals that may be difficult to accomplish alone. Therefore, people should learn to compete in a fair manner while also being willing to cooperate with others.

Word count: ~280

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student has successfully addressed all parts of the task by discussing both the view that competition is beneficial and the view that cooperation is more important, while clearly stating their own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, such as using specific examples like students competing in examinations and employees collaborating across departments. The position is maintained consistently throughout the essay, meeting the criteria for a Band 7.0 or higher. The response extends and supports arguments effectively without over-generalising, fulfilling the core requirements of Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct central topic, moving smoothly from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing competition and cooperation respectively, and concluding with a balanced summary. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'For example', and 'In addition' are used appropriately to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and effectively. While the cohesive mechanisms are functional and clear, they occasionally follow a standard structural pattern rather than displaying absolute flexibility, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary suited to the academic task. Phrases like 'long-term success', 'improve their performance', 'excessive competition', and 'common goal' are used naturally and with precision. There are also successful attempts at less common lexical items such as 'productivity', 'excessive competition', and 'fair manner'. Word choice and spelling are generally accurate throughout the response. Although there is a reliance on fairly standard academic vocabulary rather than highly sophisticated uncommon idioms or collocations, the range is sufficient for precision and flexibility, comfortably securing a Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The student employs a good variety of complex structures alongside simple forms, such as 'Although competition can encourage people to work harder, I believe that cooperation is more important...' and 'When people work together, they can share their knowledge...'. There is a high frequency of error-free sentences, and punctuation is handled correctly throughout. Grammar and sentence structures show good control, with only minor non-systematic slips if any. The majority of complex sentences are accurate, demonstrating the control expected at Band 7.

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