Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-25

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 6.0)

While some people argue that it is good to have competition at work, at school and in daily life, others think that we should try to create a cooperative environment rather than competing against each other. Although cooperation helps a lot in promoting empathy and unity, it is better to have a healthy competition in order to advance and learn.

Having a healthy competition plays a vital role in inventing new things. For example, the AI race has two main competitors Anthropic and OpenAI both of them are competing with each other and that is the main reason we are able to experience new models that are more advanced than the previous ones almost every month. In addition, the main reason behind this is that competition triggers a person to become better than the other person so because of it people try to perform good and they tend to show their true capabilities this way.

Conversely, some people might say that cooperation increases empathy and unity between people because it is seen that if people cooperate with each other they start helping each other in their difficult times. For instance, if my friend cooperates with me in establishing my business I would naturally have affection towards him and I will also help him when needed. This argument can be countered by saying that establishing a healthy competition doesn't means that I wouldn't help other person. If I want to maintain a competition then I would definitely help other person during there tough times. Because if there is no one to compete for me then the amount of efforts for inventing new things will slow down.

In conclusion, having a competition doesn't means that the opposing teams won't have sympathy with each other. The team having a healthy competition will always try to make sure that they don't go against the ethics. So in order to promote development in society this is essential to have competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the views of competition and cooperation, while clearly stating the writer's own opinion in favour of healthy competition. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as the mention of Anthropic and OpenAI in the context of the AI race. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, some arguments, particularly around the counter-argument regarding cooperation, tend to be slightly repetitive or overly generalised, which keeps the response at a Band 7 level rather than higher.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas and counter-arguments. Cohesive devices such as 'While some people', 'In addition', 'Conversely', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'the main reason'. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional minor logical gaps in paragraph three slightly disrupt the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and collocations such as 'healthy competition', 'promoting empathy and unity', and 'true capabilities'. While communication is clear throughout, there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, such as 'competing for me' instead of 'competing with me' or 'competing against me', and preposition errors like 'during there tough times'. These minor lexical slips prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well (e.g., 'If I want to maintain a competition then I would definitely help...'). There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues present, including spelling mistakes ('there' instead of 'their'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing such as 'doesn't means'. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and many sentences remain error-free.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.