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)

Some people believe that, it is necessary to have performance based competition in every aspect of life such as workplace, schools etc. while some argue that their should be more cooperation rather than having competitions against one another. I strongly believe that cooperation plays an important role in every aspect of the life.

There are some individuals who belive that competition plays an important role in work and school because a human-mind is wired to be competetive and in most scenarios, they can perform better if they try to compete. For instance, I worked in a company and i noticed that, alot of people try to compete in order to get a monetary bonus, some friends out fun, were seen compairing their scores to judge who was working hard enough.

A group of people also suggests that people should try to cooperate more instead of competing against each other because they think that if a certain amount of people are grouped inside a single panel, they can work more effectively, this can promote healthy relations and bonding among employees and students. I strongly agree with this viewpoint because the unusal competetiveness can lead towards more hatred and jealousy, which can be a possible reason behind the failure of achieving a goal.

I am strongly of the view that there should be more cooperation among every individual such as working colleagues and classmates because by this they can achieve their respective goals, this can promote healthy friendships, which can ultimately lead to a healthy work life balance

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views on competition and cooperation and states a clear position in favor of cooperation. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on why some people favor competition relies on a brief personal observation about a workplace monetary bonus and friends comparing scores. Similarly, the arguments for cooperation are repeated across paragraphs without deep extension or varied supporting examples. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to fully develop each viewpoint with more elaborate explanations and concrete, well-supported examples rather than relying on brief generalizations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic logical arrangement in the essay, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint and the writer's stance, and a concluding thought. However, the overall progression lacks seamless continuity, and cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on phrases like 'There are some individuals who believe' and 'A group of people also suggests'. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother to establish clearer links between sentences. To improve, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices naturally and ensure that referencing between ideas is handled with greater precision.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'performance based competition', 'monetary bonus', and 'work life balance'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including 'belive', 'competetive', 'compairing', 'unusal', and 'competetiveness', alongside awkward collocations like 'out fun'. These lexical slips and spelling errors occasionally reveal limitations in control. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range and eliminate spelling inaccuracies while demonstrating more precise control over word formation and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures with subordinate clauses such as 'while some argue that their should be more cooperation'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that catch the reader's attention, such as incorrect comma splices and punctuation placement ('Some people believe that, it is necessary', 'I noticed that, alot of people'), homophone confusion ('their' instead of 'there'), missing articles, and capitalization issues ('alot'). While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher level of grammatical control. To progress, the writer needs to increase sentence variety while reducing basic structural and punctuation errors.

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