Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29

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)

Competition is a common part of our daily life.Some people believe that competition at school,work and in daily activities is good,while others think that people should cooperate more.In my opinion , both competition and cooperation are important , but cooperation is more useful in many situation

Firstly,competition can encourage people to work harder.At school,students may study more when they want to get better marks than their classmates. In the same way,workers may try to improve their performance when they are competing for a promotion .Competition can also help people discover their abilities and become more confident.

However, too much competition can also be a problrm.People can feel stressed when they always want to be better than others.Sometimes,they may not help their classmates or colleges because they think of them as competitors.On the other hand,cooperation allows people to wor togrther and help each other .For example, student can work together on a project ,share their ideas and complete the work more easily . This can also help them learn from each other.

In conclusion ,competition can motivate people to improve, but cooperation is also necessary for success. i believe that people should compete in a healthy way while while also learning to cooperate and suppoeert each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both competition and cooperation, while also presenting a clear position. In the first and second body paragraphs, the writer outlines the advantages of competition, such as increased motivation and confidence, while also acknowledging the drawbacks like stress and strained relationships. The counter-argument regarding cooperation is also explored with relevant examples like working on group projects. However, the response falls significantly short of the word count requirement, containing only 206 words compared to the minimum of 250 words. This under-length limitation prevents the ideas from being fully developed and extended to a higher standard.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall arrangement with clear paragraphing used to separate the introduction, the discussion of competition, the discussion of cooperation, and the conclusion. Basic cohesive devices are present, such as 'Firstly', 'However', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, and the limited text restricts the demonstration of more advanced cohesive techniques. Paragraphs are reasonably coherent, but the overall progression is constrained by the briefness of the development within each section.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'promotion', 'performance', 'competitors', and 'cooperate'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, but there are noticeable spelling and typographical errors, such as 'problrm' instead of problem, 'wor togrther' instead of work together, and repeated words like 'while while'. These errors, alongside missing spaces after punctuation marks throughout the text, indicate limited control over spelling and word production, placing the lexical range at a modest level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating clauses introduced by 'when' and 'because'. There are several grammatical structures that function reasonably well to communicate ideas. However, frequent punctuation and spacing errors are evident across the text, such as missing spaces after commas and periods. Furthermore, minor structural slips and typos occur, such as 'many situation' instead of many situations and 'suppoeert' instead of support. Despite these flaws, communication is rarely impeded, and the sentence structures demonstrate a basic level of control.

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