Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Competition and cooperation both are essential in everyday life. While some people says competition is a positive thing, and others sees cooperate as more important. In my opinion, to imporve our daily life task at work or at school, a combination of both is the best strategy. This essay will potray both views of the people beliefs.

On the one hand, competiting with others at school, one student can improve themself. They always tend to do good results than others. And for this they will be more attentive, try to learn more. Also at workplace people will try to be more productive than others when it comes to get promotion or increment. They always think how they can imrpove themself.

On the other hand, cooperation creates a healthy environment at work or school. Everyone work together to achieve a goal. By this everyone share thei knowledge with others. At school, when students do any assignments together, they work together by cooperating. Also in group study students share their knowlege with each other. Also at work people work coperatively while working in project. For example, at work we are a team of three people. We work together to handle one buyer. When any issue arise, we cooperate each other to solve the issue.

Overall, while a healthy competition is good in every place but cooperation is best in achive a long term goal or solve any problem .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the discussion and give a clear preference for combining competition and cooperation, especially in the introduction and conclusion. The examples about students trying to improve and your three-person team handling a buyer are relevant. However, several points remain general: the benefits of competition are mostly described as trying to outperform others, without explaining when this improves outcomes, and the cooperation examples repeat the idea of sharing knowledge. The conclusion also favours cooperation for long-term goals without fully reconciling this with your stated preference for a combination. The response is 13 words below the required minimum, and the limited development contributes to only partial coverage of the task. Extend the reasoning and explain your position more consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for competition and cooperation, and a concluding opinion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “Overall” help readers follow the main stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, particularly the repeated “Also” in the cooperation paragraph, and several short statements are placed together without showing how one point leads to the next. In the conclusion, “while” introduces a contrast, but the relationship between competition and cooperation in your final view could be clearer. Use a wider range of linking methods, combine closely related points, and make references such as “By this” more precise so the connections are easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competition,” “cooperation,” “productive,” “assignments,” and “achieve a goal.” The workplace example also gives the response some specific language. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, especially “work together,” “share,” and “improve.” There are noticeable spelling and word-form errors, such as “imporve,” “potray,” “competiting,” “knowlege,” and “coperatively,” which reduce accuracy and can distract the reader. Some combinations are also unnatural, including “get promotion or increment” and “cooperate each other.” Build a bank of accurate collocations for education and work, and proofread spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and more complex forms, including the contrast structure “While some people…” and the conditional-style example beginning “When any issue arise.” This shows an effort to vary sentence patterns, and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, control is inconsistent: “some people says” and “others sees” have subject–verb agreement errors, while “Everyone work together” has the same problem. Other examples include “one student can improve themself,” “students share their knowledge,” and “we cooperate each other,” where pronouns, number, or sentence patterns need correction. The opening sentence, “Competition and cooperation both are essential,” also has awkward word order. Practise agreement, pronoun forms, and verb patterns, then check each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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