Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
It is often argued that having a competition in academic, professional, and personal life is a positive impact. However, sompe people think that people should support each other rather than competing. Although challenges are important in some aspects of life for a person to give better output. In my opinion we should always consider helping each other.
A number of people consider that working in a challenging environment enhances their performance. It has observed that when people have a competitor at work, school or in daily life they think of them as a benchmark and try to perform better in order to get ahead of them. For instance, an employee who have to achieve a specific post might perform average if he does not have any competitor. However, if there are more people working hard for one position, each one of them will try to give their 100 %. Similarly, a student might not study that hard if he does not have another fellow to compete with for a position.
On the other hand, the believers of the thought that people should work in cooperation are not completely wrong. Some people lack in confidence or face difficulty in performing some tasks. If someone will help them despite off thinking of them as a weak competition, this will benefit both. For example, a student helping other student in studies has advantage of more study time and the other student gets to clear his concepts and perform better. Therefore, it is not necessary to have a competition in every situation.
In conclusion, it is good to have competition for some specific tasks but overall people should work in unity to help each other grow.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on competition versus cooperation and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and extended, such as the example of employees working hard for a specific post and students helping each other. However, some arguments lack full depth and development, leaning towards generalized statements rather than deeply explored examples. For instance, the discussion on cooperation outlines basic student collaboration without deeply probing professional contexts. The position is maintained throughout the essay. Overall, the performance aligns well with Band 6.5, rounded to 6.0 due to the slight under-development in supporting ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a clear logical organization with an introduction, two body paragraphs exploring the opposing views, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'However', 'For instance', 'Similarly', and 'On the other hand', though some transitions are occasionally mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'despite off thinking'. Referencing is generally clear, but sentence-to-sentence progression falters slightly in places, particularly with incomplete or fragmented structures like 'Although challenges are important in some aspects of life for a person to give better output.' This meets the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common items such as 'benchmark', 'cooperation', and 'professional'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'having a competition' instead of 'competition', 'sompe people', 'give better output', and 'despite off thinking'. Spelling and morphological issues also appear, though they do not impede communication. The lexical range is sufficient for the task and demonstrates an attempt at flexibility, earning a Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing dependent clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('an employee who have to achieve', 'a student helping other student'), fragment sentences ('Although challenges are important...'), and awkward phrasing ('It has observed that...'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. The grammar reflects the descriptors for Band 5.5.
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