Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

Workplaces and schools are institutions which provide opportunities for the holistic development of an individual. The idea of competitions in offices, schools, and regular lives has been a burning topic of discussion in recent years. Some believe that competing against each other has a positive impact on individuals, while others suggest cooperating with each other instead.

A number of people consider competitions to be a good thing due to several factors. Among these, the primary driver of motivation is the need for recognition and growth in life, be it as an employee or a student, because victory leads to fame and praise from others, followed a feeling of satisfaction. Moreover, friendly competitions among people not only fosters independence, but also helps to develop a sense of responsibility in the participants. Therefore, competitions play a critical role in both, personal and professional lives of an individual.

On contrary, some people hold the notion that instead of competing against each other, one should try to cooperating. This belief may have formed when people turned peaceful battles into rivalry, leading to a decline in their productivity. In addition, cooperation permits collaboration and team-building, which couldn't have been possible if it were a competition, wherein the focus is through a narrow lens. Hence, a portion of people advise to avoid challenges and promote association among people to broaden one's perspective.

To conclude, in my opinion, although competitions can be a useful tool to attain individual goals, they are prone to have negative outcomes, thus, partnership is encouraged.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You discuss both perspectives and give a clear final preference for cooperation, while acknowledging that competition can help people achieve individual goals. The competition paragraph offers relevant reasons—recognition, motivation, independence and responsibility—and the cooperation paragraph explains the value of collaboration and team-building. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that competition can reduce productivity is not supported with a clear explanation or example, and the conclusion introduces the idea of negative outcomes without specifying them. Develop the comparison more evenly and add a concrete example, such as how a team project benefits from cooperation while individual targets can motivate employees, to make your reasoning more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The progression from competition to cooperation is easy to follow, and signposting such as “Moreover,” “On contrary,” and “To conclude” helps identify the stages of the argument. This organisation is effective, though some links feel mechanical or the relationships between ideas are not fully clear. For instance, “This belief may have formed when people turned peaceful battles into rivalry” is difficult to connect to the preceding point, and “Hence” introduces advice that does not clearly follow from the explanation. Use more precise transitions and make each sentence’s connection to the paragraph’s main idea explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “recognition,” “independence,” “responsibility,” “collaboration,” and “team-building,” and you attempt more formal expressions such as “primary driver of motivation.” These choices communicate the main ideas and show some flexibility. However, several less natural collocations or word choices reduce precision: “regular lives,” “peaceful battles,” and “focus is through a narrow lens” do not express the intended meanings clearly. “A burning topic of discussion” is also somewhat overstated for this context. Aim for more natural combinations, such as “everyday life,” “competition becoming rivalry,” and “a narrow focus.” This would make the argument sound more fluent and appropriately academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “while,” and “if,” and most sentences remain understandable. Some grammatical errors are present, particularly with verb forms, agreement, and sentence patterns. For example, “followed a feeling of satisfaction” needs a grammatical link, and “friendly competitions … fosters” has a plural subject with a singular verb. “One should try to cooperating” should use the infinitive form, while “On contrary” is missing an article. There are also awkward constructions such as “both, personal and professional lives of an individual.” Review subject–verb agreement, infinitive patterns, and article use, then proofread complex sentences to ensure that their clauses connect correctly.

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