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)

In today's world cooperation or competition both plays significant roles in every aspects of professional fields. Some people believe that competition motivates them to work harder which helps them to generate better results while others think that working as a team produces superior outcomes with less efforts. As far as I'm concerned with this contentious topic, I'm more inclined towards cooperation because it is beneficial for both individuals and society.

The proponents of competition believe that it ignites the fire in them to work harder than everyone else. For instance, there is always a healthy competition between students because of their academics every student work harder to score better marks than their class fellows, same thing in professional fields every employee puts efforts to get promotion over another employee. It is a really good thing if you look at mobile companies, they try new innovations to surge in the market with their rival companies which automatically results in favor of the public they get to use new technologies which are really beneficial for their daily life like GPS,AI etc.

On the other hand, people who believes that working as team is more beneficial because it saves efforts and time both and produces often better outcomes. Every task cannot be achieved individually it requires teamwork. For example, Companies nowadays assigns tasks to a team rather than each person individually. If we look at the time of Covid-19 pandemic whole world was collapsed, so scientists from different parts of the world work together to overcome the covid-19 in which they succeeded.

In conclusion, cooperation and competition both have their owns advantages and disadvantages. But I believe that cooperation is ultimately more valuable. By combining knowledge, resources and diverse perspectives, people are able to solve complex problems more effectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views on competition and cooperation and providing a clear personal opinion. The introduction outlines the two viewpoints, the body paragraphs examine the arguments for competition and teamwork respectively, and the conclusion reiterates the writer's stance. Ideas are generally well-supported with relevant examples, such as the mention of mobile companies innovating and the collaborative efforts of scientists during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, some arguments could have been further extended and developed to reach a higher band. Overall, the task response is well-managed, presenting a clear position throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation with a recognizable overall progression. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with the introduction, moving to pro-competition, pro-cooperation, and finally concluding. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'On the other hand', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion'. However, some cohesive elements feel a bit mechanical or repetitive, and referencing can occasionally be slightly unclear, such as 'same thing in professional fields'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but the overall flow and logical sequencing fall slightly short of the flexibility required for a Band 7.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'contentious topic', 'proponents', 'innovations', and 'perspectives'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'cooperation or competition both plays significant roles in every aspects', 'less efforts', and 'saves efforts and time both'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but vocabulary limitations and occasional awkward phrasing restrict the score to a Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct longer sentences, such as 'By combining knowledge, resources and diverse perspectives, people are able to solve complex problems more effectively.' Nevertheless, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including comma splices and subject-verb agreement issues like 'cooperation or competition both plays' and 'people who believes'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band score where error-free sentences should be more dominant.

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