Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-06

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)

It is widely argued that some people consider that competition should be present at work, school and even in daily routine because it is a good development while other contend that cooperation is more essential rather than competing against each other. I am inclined to believe that both has its own pros and cons, but without having a competition; life must be boring.

On the one hand, competition is crucial at every step because it always helps you to achieve your future endeavors. Additionally, it teaches you how to behave in a team, sportsmenship and improve your inter-personal skills. For instance, when a student at school compete against their rivals, he would surely gives his best to secure highest scores and also if he lost the game; he learns the cope up strategies to tackle the situation. Therefore, any type of contest is always beneficial in person's growth and step toward successs.

On the other hand, support is essential in some cases like for the betterment of the company while cooperating colleagues at work or helping friends with their school tasks. But cooperation during a match or tournament is unacceptable and produce complications. Furthermore, during cooperating others, you should be very empathetic towards them and follow the code of ethics. However, cooperation is relatively important but competition in your life always improve your mental and physical capabilities and enhance your decision making power.

In conclusion, it is clear that competition and cooperation are indispensable but cooperating more rather than competing is a wrong approach that affects your performance and results and sometimes you have to face failures and diceives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on competition and cooperation and providing a personal opinion. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack clarity. For instance, the opinion is stated as 'both has its own pros and cons, but without having a competition; life must be boring', which is a somewhat simplistic and limited stance. While you explore arguments for competition and touch upon instances where support is needed, the supporting points tend to be generalised. To move to a higher band, you would need to extend and fully develop your ideas with deeper explanations and more precise examples rather than relying on brief assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing views. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, transition phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are included, but internal referencing and logical progression within the paragraphs are occasionally unclear, such as the sudden shift in the second body paragraph to discussing coping strategies after mentioning sportsmanship. Additionally, referencing is sometimes ambiguous, as seen in the phrasing 'during cooperating others'. Improving the logical flow between sentences and refining the use of cohesive devices will enhance the overall structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing a sufficient range to discuss the topic of competition and cooperation. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'endeandevors', 'inter-personal', and 'empathetic', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word form, spelling, and word choice. Examples include spelling mistakes like 'sportsmenship' and 'successs', and awkward collocations like 'cooperating colleagues' or 'diceives'. These lexical errors and inaccuracies do not severely impede communication, but they restrict the score. To achieve a higher band, you should aim for greater precision in word choice and ensure correct word forms and spelling throughout.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can cause some difficulty for the reader. For instance, subject-verb agreement issues appear in sentences like 'both has its own' and pronoun agreement slips such as 'when a student at school compete... he would surely gives'. There are also structural errors in conditional or temporal clauses, such as 'without having a competition; life must be boring'. While meaning is generally conveyed, these persistent errors in grammar prevent the writing from achieving a higher level of accuracy.

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