Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-12

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)

According to a few people, it is a good thing to be competitive at work, school, and daily life while others suggest that, it is best to cooperate each other rather than competing. In this essay, I shall discuss both views and talk about why I think cooperation can help elevate a society more than competition.

The reason why some people suggest that competition is good because it brings the best out of an individual. Not everyone is equally talented or have the same capability of working hard. Competitive mindset can help an individual focus on their growth by proving themselves at every aspect of life. Besides, being competitive can help an individual sharpening their skills at best.

On the other hand, cooperation is better because it helps everyone grow rather than focusing on individual growth. Cooperation can help a group of individuals achieve remarkable height, as it allows everyone to learn and grow simultaneously. This can be crucial for the betterment of the society as cooperation aims to strengthen the weaknesses of every individual member and grow together as a whole.

In my opinion cooperative mindset is better than a competitive one because it can take the society at a whole new level. Competition can lead to unpleasent confrontations within the same group. But cooperation aims for the whole society to work together in order to reach a certain goal. An example can be drawn from the Argentine national football team, where every player cooperate each other rather than chasing for individual glory. As a result, a team with less star power is able to achieve greater success at international tournaments.

In conclusion, competitive mindset can have impact on individual growth, whereas cooperative mindset can help a group, or a community grow as a whole. But to think about the greater good, cooperative mindset is the better choice in my opinion.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address both sides of the question and maintain a clear position in favour of cooperation, stated in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. The discussion of competition is relevant: you explain that it can motivate individuals to develop their abilities and skills. You also extend the cooperation argument by linking shared effort to group and societal progress, and the football example helps illustrate your view. This meets the task well, although some claims remain broad—for example, that cooperation can take society to “a whole new level”—and the benefits of competition could be supported with a more specific example. Developing these points with clearer cause-and-effect reasoning would make the argument more convincing and fully elaborated.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear, effective structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, a paragraph stating your opinion with an example, and a conclusion. Progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the other hand,” “In my opinion,” and “In conclusion” help readers navigate the argument. The football example is placed logically after your explanation of cooperation. To strengthen cohesion further, vary the transitions rather than relying mainly on explicit paragraph-opening phrases, and make links between claims more precise. For instance, the move from cooperation strengthening individual weaknesses to improving society could explain more directly how the group benefits. Overall, the organisation is clear, with some scope for more flexible linking.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss the topic, including “competitive mindset,” “individual growth,” “weaknesses,” and “individual glory.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and phrases such as “remarkable height” show an attempt to use less common language. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “sharpening their skills at best,” “achieve remarkable height,” and “less star power.” There is also a spelling error in “unpleasent.” These issues do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim to learn vocabulary in common combinations and check spelling; for example, use “develop their skills,” “achieve significant progress,” and “fewer star players.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including subordinate clauses such as “because it brings the best out of an individual” and “as it allows everyone to learn and grow simultaneously.” Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “Not everyone is equally talented or have” has a subject–verb agreement problem; “helps an individual sharpening” needs a different verb pattern; and “every player cooperate each other” has errors in agreement and sentence construction. The opening sentence also has an unnecessary comma after “suggest that.” Review agreement, verb patterns, and the structure of verbs such as “cooperate,” which normally takes “with.” More accurate control of these patterns would improve the range you are already attempting.

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