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)

A growing number of people think competition at offices, at schools and in normal life is a positive thing, while others think that we should work together and help each other. This essay will talk about both ideas and will say that there should be competition.

On the one hand, competition motivates individuals to work harder and achieve their goals and it encourages them to be mature with their work. Similarly, employees may work efficiently to get reward or promotion. For instance, At schools students work hard to get higher marks than their classmates. Therefore, competing against each other may help to develop their skills and achieve their results.

On the other hand, Cooperation may help them to achieve common goals. It also help individuals to share their experience and work together. Moreover, Cooperation may assist to build strong relationships and solve problems easily. For example, Students can cooperate on a school project and all of them use their knowledge, abilities to complete that project successfully. However, excessive cooperation sometimes reduce confidence of others and not feel to perform better. Hence, cooperation can help people to achieve main goals and help to learn skills together.

In conclusion, Competition in workplace and in educational institutes may encourage them to work hard and get higher marks and develop new skills. Cooperation may help to work together and share their experience of their life. Furthermore, it help them to achieve their main goal. I believe competition is beneficial for all people to compete against each and achieve their results.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both competition and cooperation before providing a clear personal opinion in the conclusion. The introduction outlines the essay plan adequately, though the paraphrasing is slightly repetitive. In the body paragraphs, relevant ideas are presented, such as how competition motivates individuals and how cooperation helps achieve common goals and build relationships. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from minor logic gaps or over-generalisation, such as the claim in the third paragraph that 'excessive cooperation sometimes reduce confidence of others.' Overall, the task is addressed well enough to meet the criteria for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for covering all parts of the prompt with a clear position, though the depth of idea development remains somewhat moderate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure. Standard cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the one hand,' 'On the other hand,' 'Moreover,' and 'In conclusion,' which guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the pronoun 'them' in the conclusion ('encourage them to work hard') lacks a clear, unambiguous antecedent. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate introduction, body arguments, and conclusion, maintaining a logical progression from discussing competition to cooperation and finally delivering the writer's stance. While the organizational framework is clear, the mechanical nature of some transitions prevents the response from achieving a higher band score, placing it comfortably at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating topic-related words such as 'competition,' 'cooperation,' 'efficiently,' 'promotion,' and 'relationships.' There are, however, noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text. For example, the student writes 'competition at offices' instead of 'in the workplace,' 'mature with their work' instead of 'diligent' or 'focused,' and 'reduce confidence' instead of 'reduces the confidence.' Furthermore, minor grammatical-lexical slips occur, such as 'not feel to perform better.' While less common vocabulary is attempted, inaccuracies prevent the lexical range from shining. The vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the message clearly without impeding communication, representing a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional or multi-clause structures such as 'A growing number of people think... while others think that...' and 'Students can cooperate on a school project and all of them use their knowledge...' There are, nonetheless, frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and tense consistency. Examples include 'excessive cooperation sometimes reduce' instead of 'reduces,' and 'it help them' instead of 'helps them.' Punctuation and capitalization errors also appear, such as capitalizing 'At schools' mid-sentence. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication as the intended meaning remains transparent. The balance of simple and complex structures alongside persistent errors aligns well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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