Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-30

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)

In the modern era, some people think that competition at work at school and in daily life is a good thing while another argue that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other This essay will discuss more both perspectives and explaining why I believe a balance approach is the best option.

Examining the former view that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good concept because people are ready to face any situation in the life however, people learn new things and how to treat himself in a difficult situation. Furthermore, competition motivates people to work harder, due to employees try to improve performance to get promotions and students study more to achieve higher grades. Nextly, competitions encouraged invention and personal developments for example companies competing in technology create better smart phones and software.

On the contrary, cooperation is better than competition because cooperation help people achieve common goals and effectively such as teamwork always people share knowledge and skills and a large projects often require collaboration. In additionally, corporation reduces stress and unhealthy revalry. excessive corporations can create pressure and and conflict or working together improve relationship and workplace atmosphere. for instance, Doctor and nurse cooperate to improve better health care and group project at school teach communication and teamwork skills.

In my opinion, people should accept both Competition and cooperation because both important. Competition Ken motivate people to improve and achieve success while cooperation is essential when people need to work together to avoid a share objective

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the views on competition and cooperation, and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas tends to be somewhat superficial and repetitive. For example, in the second paragraph, the student mentions that competition helps people face situations and learn new things, but these points are under-developed. Similarly, the discussion on cooperation outlines some benefits like teamwork and reducing stress, but lacks specific, fully elaborated examples. The response meets the minimum word count requirement, but the arguments would benefit from greater depth and extension to reach a higher band level. Overall, it satisfies the basic requirements of the prompt, corresponding to a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion appropriately. Paragraphing is used to separate the different perspectives. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical. The student uses basic cohesive devices and transitions like 'Furthermore', 'Nextly', 'On the contrary', and 'In additionally' (which contains a grammatical error), some of which are awkwardly phrased or overused. Referencing and pronoun use can be unclear at times, such as 'teamwork always people share knowledge' which disrupts the flow. While the logical organisation is generally visible, the mechanical nature of the cohesive links and occasional awkward referencing place this text firmly at a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to work, school, and daily life. Less common vocabulary items are attempted, such as 'revalry' (spelled incorrectly as revalry) and 'invention' instead of innovation. There are several noticeable spelling, word-choice, and word-formation errors throughout the text, including 'balance approach' instead of 'balanced approach', 'revalry' instead of 'rivalry', and confusion between 'corporation' and 'cooperation'. Although these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the essay from achieving a higher score. The lexical resource is characteristic of a Band 5.0, reflecting a limited but minimally adequate range with noticeable mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('in the life', 'a balance approach'), incorrect verb forms ('while another argue', 'due to employees try'), and run-on sentences lacking proper punctuation (e.g., 'competing against each other This essay'). Punctuation is also neglected in places, creating difficulties for the reader. Although some complex structures are attempted, they are frequently faulty. The high frequency of errors across basic and complex structures places this criterion at a Band 5.0.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.