Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-02

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 6.0)

While some argue that competition at work, at learning institutions, and every day is beneficial, others believe that cooperating is better that competing against each other. I believe that some form of competition is much more beneficial because it allows individuals to try to succeed harder.

On the one hand, there is a valid argument that joining forces is better than competing against each other. Cooperating at areas of learning, working, and during our daily life is crucial for maintaining a healthy environment with others. These places require cooperation because it allows people to collaborate, which is essential for good mental health. As a result, individuals would have lower stress levels. For instance, if workers are given a project and they do not join forces to finish it in time, this would lead to issues, such as elevating stress or causing arguments with colleagues.

On the other hand, a stronger argument is that competition is beneficial for employment, learning, and in our daily lives. Competing is a great way for individuals to actually push themselves towards success because it provides enough challenges for a person. Ultimately, having competitors may be beneficial for the persons success. For example, two students are competing for class president, which would mean that both of them need to study harder and earn better grades to actually prove their position clearly.

In conclusion despite the arguments that cooperating is better than competing at work, school, and daily, I believe that having some type of competition is essential for any environment because it would push people towards success.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on competition and cooperation while clearly stating a personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which is typical of this level. For instance, while the benefits of cooperation are supported by a clear example about workplace stress and projects, the discussion on competition relies on slightly repetitive assertions about pushing towards success, such as the example of students competing for class president. To move to a higher band, the ideas concerning competition need deeper extension and more varied, well-developed supporting evidence rather than general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction, through body paragraphs discussing each viewpoint, to a defined conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or slightly faulty in its referencing. For example, transitional phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are used correctly to structure the essay, but some cohesive links between sentences feel repetitive, and referencing words occasionally lack absolute clarity. To achieve a higher band, the flow between sentences could be made smoother through more sophisticated and varied cohesive devices rather than relying on standard formulas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating ideas about work, school, and daily life. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'beneficial', 'collaboration', and 'environments', though this is accompanied by some word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'cooperating at areas of learning' instead of 'in areas', and minor lexical slips like 'every day' used as an adjective instead of 'everyday'. Spelling and word choice errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments easily. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to demonstrate a more precise control of collocations and incorporate a wider variety of sophisticated, less common lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over standard structures such as conditional-like clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'For instance, if workers are given a project...'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('competing for class president' and 'in conclusion despite') and slight prepositional awkwardness ('competing at work'), but these errors rarely impede communication and do not obscure the meaning. The majority of simpler sentences are error-free. To progress further, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures with a higher degree of accuracy and error-free execution across the entire text.

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