Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01

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 my opinion, i accept competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing and also we should cooperate, both are healthy ways to survive in life and they have different views and perspectives of their own.

Firstly there should be a competition at work,at school and in daily life without competition one cannot survive nowadays, we see competitions in all the feilds especially at school students competes amoung themselves to get good scores,to win medals in games and at work employees competes to gain hike and promotions, moreover every person competes in his daily life for example fruit selling merchant competes with another fruit selling merchant who sits oppsite to him, and in It sectors different companies like Amazon and flipkart competes regarding the fastest delivery ,everywhere in the world competition occurs.

Whereas,in some situations where cooperation is required in that case we need to adjust to that particular thing, for suppose i am travelling in pulic transport i need to adjust and sit with the fellow passanger so that i can get a seat to sit and travel,we cant argive with them that i wont allow you to sit as comfortable as like our own vechicle hence it is important to cooperate with others,when situation demands.

Finally,both competition and cooperation is very important in everyones life both have their own value and both has positive and negative impact on life so one should think smartly and act accordingly where ever competation and cooperation required.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both competition and cooperation and offering a personal opinion, which places it within the mid-range of achievement. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on school and work competition relies on basic examples such as students getting good scores or fruit sellers sitting opposite each other, without extending these points into deeper analysis. The position is stated at the beginning and reaffirmed at the end, but the overall development lacks the depth and extension required for a higher band. To improve, the writer should elaborate on the underlying reasons for why competition or cooperation is beneficial rather than simply listing surface-level examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a clear attempt to structure the essay into paragraphs with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing some basic organisation. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Whereas', and 'Finally', but their application is at times mechanical or repetitive. Furthermore, the overall progression within paragraphs is occasionally hindered by run-on sentences and a lack of clear referencing. For example, the transition from discussing large corporations like Amazon and Flipkart directly into daily public transport scenarios feels abrupt rather than smoothly linked. To progress to a higher level, the writer needs to employ a wider and more natural range of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing pronouns clearly connect back to their intended antecedents.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, containing basic terms related to the topic such as 'competition', 'cooperate', 'score', and 'promotions'. However, there is a limited range of lexical items, and noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form occur throughout the text. Examples include spelling errors like 'feilds', 'oppsite', 'It', 'passanger', 'argive', 'vechicle', and 'competation'. Additionally, phrasing such as 'gain hike' is unnatural and reflects a restricted lexical range that sometimes causes difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer must expand their vocabulary to include less common lexical items with correct collocations and eliminate basic spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a very limited range of structures, relying heavily on long, run-on sentences joined by commas rather than proper coordination or subordination. Frequent errors in grammar and punctuation are present, including capitalization issues (such as starting sentences with lowercase 'i'), comma splices, and faulty prepositional patterns or missing articles (e.g., 'in public transport', 'fellow passanger'). Attempts at complex sentence forms are often marred by these frequent errors, which can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer needs to focus on sentence boundary control, reduce punctuation errors, and incorporate a greater variety of accurate complex sentence structures.

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