Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-08

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 this fast-moving world competition is important for personal and professional growth. However, some people believe that excessive competition can create negativity in the workspace. In my opinion, the healthy competition is more beneficial because it encourages individual to learn new skills and grow in the positive environment.

On the one hand, Competition motivates people to do more in their field and learn something new from that they will become more better than their competitor. In school, student may study harder when they see their classmates performing well in exams. it will help them to concentrate towards their studies. For instance, if employee who compete with their colleagues may try to do their work more efficiently and develop new skills to achieve better results.

On the other hands, Cooperation also important for positive workflow for the employees in the office and for the students for their better learning. Cooperation also helps to complete their tasks on time with different ideas of various individuals. For example, at workplace employee who cooperate can share their knowledge and skills to other also for the successful completion of projects and create healthy relations with their co-working partners.

In conclusion, cooperation is better for healthy and positive work environment and relations. I believe healthy competition is more beneficial to retain the individual active at their task and motivated towards learning new skills and taking responsibilities for the completion of task on time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You discuss both competition and cooperation, and your opinion is present: you favour healthy competition while recognising cooperation’s value. Relevant examples include students responding to classmates’ exam performance and colleagues sharing knowledge on projects. However, the position becomes less clear in the conclusion, which says cooperation is better before again favouring competition. The ideas are also brief and under-developed: explain more fully when competition helps and why cooperation may be preferable for shared tasks. The response is 237 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum; use the additional space to develop both views and make your final position consistent.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand” and “On the other hands” help readers follow the discussion, and examples generally appear with the relevant point. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, particularly in the first body paragraph, where the school example shifts to an employee example without explaining their connection. The conclusion also gives conflicting signals about which view you support. Improve cohesion by linking each example explicitly to its main claim, using accurate transitions, and ensuring the conclusion restates one consistent position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “competition,” “cooperate,” “efficiently,” “knowledge,” and “successful completion of projects.” These choices make the subject clear, and phrases such as “healthy competition” are appropriate. However, several collocations and word forms are unnatural or repetitive, including “more better,” “positive workflow,” “co-working partners,” and repeated uses of “task.” Some expressions, such as “learn something new from that,” are vague. Aim for more precise, natural combinations and vary repeated wording; for example, describe a “productive working environment” and “colleagues” rather than “co-working partners.” This would make your ideas clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including clauses with “when,” “because,” and “who,” and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, errors recur in sentence structure and basic grammatical forms. Examples include “competition is important” after an introductory phrase without a comma, “encourages individual to learn,” “Cooperation also important,” and “if employee who compete.” Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in “it will help” after a full stop. Practise complete clause structures, articles, subject–verb agreement, and sentence boundaries. For instance, write “Cooperation is also important” and “an employee who competes with colleagues.” More accurate control would make your examples easier to follow.

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