Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28
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 4.5)
Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing but it is not good in the present age. In this way most of the people do not help each other in the problems. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. In this way people love each other and help the other people in the critical situation. We follow this role people love each other.
Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. But it is not good. If we follow this thing we should face many problem in our life. In this competition at work or school people jealous with each other and people only work for our benefits. They do not help each other because they think if we help each other they some one how stand the big post in this way people jealous each other. People do not see those people who progress me more. This competition is not good for the people.
But other believes that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other it is very good for the people. If we follow this way we should do progress more and more. If we should follow this role we love with each other and we should do progress more and more. In this way every people live each other like a family and love each other more and more. In my opinion we should follow the second role in our life and we will a successful person in future. We are living each other with love. In this way we will successful in the future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response attempts to discuss both views regarding competition and cooperation and gives a clear personal opinion in the final paragraph. However, the ideas are severely underdeveloped, repetitive, and lack depth or well-reasoned examples. For instance, the student states that competition causes people to 'jealous with each other' and work only for personal benefit, but this point is merely restated rather than extended with specific illustrations. The discussion of cooperation relies heavily on repetitive phrases like 'love each other' and 'progress more and more' without offering a nuanced exploration of the topic. While all parts of the prompt are touched upon, the lack of substantive development and the circular nature of the arguments place this response firmly at Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The essay is divided into three paragraphs, providing a basic overall structure. However, coherence is heavily hindered by a lack of logical progression and a heavy reliance on repetitive ideas. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, with basic conjunctions like 'and' or 'but' overused to link disconnected thoughts. For example, the transition between sentences often feels abrupt and mechanical, such as 'We follow this role people love each other.' Referencing is also unclear at times, with pronouns like 'this thing' or 'this way' lacking precise antecedents. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal organization of each paragraph suffers from redundancy rather than a clear flow of ideas. This overall pattern aligns with the descriptors for Band 4.5, rounded to 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and restricted to everyday words such as 'people', 'life', 'good', 'work', and 'love'. There are numerous word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'people jealous with each other' instead of 'people become jealous of each other', 'stand the big post' instead of 'secure a high position', and 'love with each other' instead of 'love one another'. The student attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'critical situation' and 'successful person', but these are used incorrectly or in overly simplistic contexts. The lexical range is minimally adequate for communicating basic ideas, but frequent errors and severe repetitiveness prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 4.5 appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic subject-verb-object patterns. When the student attempts complex sentences, they are almost invariably faulty or ungrammatical, such as in the conditional structure 'If we follow this thing we should face many problem in our life' and 'If we help each other they some one how stand the big post'. Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the response, including missing plurals ('many problem'), incorrect prepositions, and tense confusion. These persistent errors frequently strain the reader and obscure the intended meaning, reflecting the characteristics of Band 4.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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