Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-27

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 5.0)

In recent era, The new trend in being followed that competition is a beneficial for individuals either at work, at school or in daily life chores, Also, some people believes that we have to be helpful for each other rather than involved in competition. In my opinion this trend has both positive and negative aspects which are explained below.

Firstly, Competition increases the sense of reality, It offers candidate to be more competitive and prepare well for the task. To explain this , school students have the parent teacher meeting prior to the final exams, this meeting shows applicants their whole academic journey in front of their parents and colleague students. This is likely to create the competition among the class children and some time and efforts would be given to those students by teachers who are lacking in terms of their grades. From this initiative the students get benefit and competition would be increased among the fellow students.

On the other hand, Creating competition among children has some significant drawbacks, it might be induced some anxiety, stress among applicants which leads towards the threating the students to perform well at any circumstances, likewise, it impacts the performance of individual. Additionally, The competition has one more significant drawback that it can creates the inferiority complex among the participant which would decreases the performance of individual.

To conclude, I believe that competition at any sort of place either its work, school or daily life it creates the sense or reality among natives by which they have chance to perform well in tasks. In contrast, it leads towards the some health issues which has the direct impact on health of an individual, so, its better to be cooperate and helpful rather then living in a competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both views required by the prompt, discussing the benefits of competition and the drawbacks such as stress and inferiority complexes. A personal opinion is stated in the introduction and reiterated in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the paragraph discussing the benefits uses school meetings as an example, but the connection to 'competition' is slightly convoluted and unclear regarding how it motivates students effectively. Similarly, the conclusion introduces a somewhat contradictory stance where the writer ultimately advocates for cooperation rather than balancing both views comprehensively throughout the body. While all parts of the prompt are touched upon, the ideas lack the depth and extension required for a higher band, placing this response securely at Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, following a standard argumentative structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is a basic overall progression, and the writer attempts to use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion are frequently faulty or mechanical. For example, expressions like 'In recent era, The new trend in being followed that...' contain confusing punctuation and awkward linking. Furthermore, pronoun referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'which leads towards the threating the students', making the logical flow bumpy and disjointed in places. Paragraphing is present, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs lacks smooth transitions, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 5.0 performance.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating basic points about competition, stress, and school environments. However, noticeable word choice and collocation errors appear throughout the text, such as 'daily life chores' instead of 'daily life', 'colleague students' instead of 'fellow students', and 'living in a competition'. There are also frequent issues with word forms, such as 'cooperate' used where the noun or adjective form is required ('its better to be cooperate'). Spelling is generally acceptable, but the lexical inaccuracies and unnatural phrasing cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the vocabulary score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors that impede clarity and strain the reader, such as 'The new trend in being followed that competition is a beneficial', 'It offers candidate to be more competitive', and 'it might be induced some anxiety'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably with comma splices separating independent clauses, as seen in 'Competition increases the sense of reality, It offers candidate...'. Complex structures are often faulty, and errors in prepositions, verb forms, and voice are pervasive throughout the text. These persistent inaccuracies place the grammar performance at Band 5.0.

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