Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Some people are of opinion that competition is a beneficial thing at work, school and daily life, while others are of view that one should work together with people, rather than competing with others. Both sides are unique and have their own benefits and reasons. In this essay, I shall discuss both sides along with sharing my own opinion as well.

On one hand people argue that competition is a good thing in a person's life whether its work, school or any other aspect. The reason behind this is that it prevents a person from procrastinating and gives him a reason to work towards his goal, rather than giving up. Some people also remain firm on this perspective is because they believe that people work best when they are under pressure or fear of falling behind others. A simple and straigtforward example can be seen in many corporate offices: 4 employees are working tirelessly and are competing with one another to for the post of Project Manager. Although, comeptition is necessary for improvement, but I believe that it can also lead to physical and mental exhaustion.

On the other hand, others argue that cooperation is neccessary. It eliminates a sense of threat between people, and open doors for sincere connections between people. For example; employees working together on a project as a team rather than rivals, not worried about personal recognition, but about collective success. Although this does feel pleasurable, this makes a person feel too relaxed, and can lead one to take their success for granted. For example, if students were not scared with the possibility of failing a class, and instead were faced with cooperation from educational institutes, then it would leads to them taking their academic success for granted. Therefore, one needs to find a balance between cooperation and hardwork.

I believe that a balance between both is vital, a healthy competition, without jealousy and envy, is necessary for growth and improvement. The person should focus solely on achieving their goal, rather than comparing himself to others and being envious of him. He should also cooperate with others in a way that does not lead to both others and him on compromising on his efforts. Like famous businessmen like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. They did not care about other people's success, nor did they lost themselves to relaxation, resulting from excessive cooperations. Because of that, they are now business tycoons who are not envious of others success, and are also working together with other people in order to boost their success and achiece their goals.

Overall, I believe that both viewpoints are of great value. But one does not weights more than the other in terms of its implication in real life. A balance between both is necessary.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the benefits of competition and cooperation, and clearly states their own opinion throughout the essay and in the conclusion. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as corporate office workers competing for a promotion and famous entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalise in parts, such as the assumption that cooperation necessarily leads people to take success for granted. The position is well-maintained and the main parts of the prompt are thoroughly explored, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct central topic, moving from an introduction to discussion of competition, cooperation, and finally the writer's balanced viewpoint. Cohesive devices are used adequately and flexibly, with transition phrases like 'On one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Therefore'. However, paragraphing could be slightly more refined, and some referencing is occasionally repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'people' and 'things'. Overall, the logical flow is easy to follow, justifying a Band 7 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow for flexibility and precision, using less common items such as 'procrastinating', 'exhaustion', 'collective success', and 'business tycoons'. There are some minor word choice and spelling errors, such as 'straigtforward' instead of 'straightforward', 'neccessary' instead of 'necessary', and awkward phrasing like 'does not weights more than the other'. Nevertheless, the lexical resource is adequate to convey precise meanings without impeding communication, fitting the Band 6.5 to 7 profile; a Band 6.5 is appropriate given the minor spelling and collocation slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional clauses ('if students were not scared...') and relative clauses. There are frequent error-free sentences, but a number of grammatical and punctuation errors persist, such as comma splices ('Both sides are unique and have their own benefits and reasons', 'I believe that a balance between both is vital, a healthy competition...') and subject-verb agreement or pronoun inconsistencies ('The person should focus solely on achieving their goal, rather than comparing himself to others and being envious of him'). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response securely in Band 6.0.

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