Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Some people believe that competence at work, at institutions and in regular life is a good motivation. While others believe that we should attempt to be more cooperative rather than challenge against each other.

I personaly believe that a healthy competition is quite the driving factor for humanity. Competition is not just about fighting against each other but also about achieving a target goal. There are ways to put out this rather than a fight. For instance, we can consider it as a rewarding system. When stundents in school knnow that there is something to recognize their efforts and has an outcome, then they would strive harder to succeed it. Standing out gives that particular reward. In a room of 50 students that one will be standing out and rewarded. For that students would require to compete against each other and win. More they compete more ideas and creativity would take for them to stand out.

The same goes for any day to day activity, it can be exemplified as fitness, sports, becoming employee of the year, getting bonus and promotion, everything works as the reward of who wins the competition. But it comes with some negative aspects such as jealousy and greed. I only mentioned healthy competition, but people at times would go some extents to win the competition. Which is bad, bacause everyone's effort must be appreciated and if one wins the competition the other should be happy for them. That is called as sportsmanship or taking as a good spirit. These greed and pulling others down is awful and this is what ruind the whole concept of competition. There are so many people who would try to sabotage their way into wiining. Such activities must be avoided so that everyone has a fair prize of their hard work.

In conclusion, healthy competition is a neccessary factor for motivating people because this helps recognize the true talents. But at the same time people should be able to take their failure as a first step and get better next time so that everyone can be happy at the end.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear in the main body and conclusion: you support healthy competition because it can motivate people and recognise talent. The examples of students striving for recognition and employees seeking bonuses or promotion are relevant. However, the task asks you to discuss both competition and cooperation, and the cooperative view receives little direct explanation. You mention sportsmanship and appreciating others, but do not develop how cooperation benefits people or when it may be preferable to competition. Some claims, such as competition producing more creativity, are asserted rather than explained. To strengthen the response, give the opposing view a full paragraph with a specific example, then compare the two approaches before stating your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, developed body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the ideas generally remain focused on competition. Examples help the reader follow the argument. However, progression is sometimes difficult to track because several points are crowded together, particularly in the paragraph moving from rewards to jealousy, sabotage and fairness. Linking phrases such as “For instance,” “But at the same time” and “In conclusion” are useful, but some connections are mechanical or unclear; “For that students would require to compete” does not clearly connect the reward to the wider argument. Organise each paragraph around one main claim, use clearer transitions between benefits and drawbacks, and explicitly signal the discussion of cooperation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “rewarding system,” “creativity,” “sportsmanship,” “sabotage” and “promotion,” which helps communicate your ideas. However, the range is limited by repeated use of “competition,” “reward” and “win,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward. For example, “competence” does not express the intended idea of competition, “challenge against each other” is unnatural, and “a fair prize of their hard work” is unclear. Spelling errors such as “personal y,” “stundents,” “ruind” and “wiining” also reduce accuracy. Build a wider set of precise expressions for cooperation and competition, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and longer sentences, including a conditional example beginning “When students in school know…” and a contrast introduced by “But at the same time.” The overall meaning is usually understandable, but control is uneven, especially in longer constructions. For example, “When students … there is something to recognize their efforts and has an outcome” has an unclear subject and faulty agreement, while “More they compete more ideas and creativity would take for them to stand out” is not grammatically complete. There are also errors in articles and sentence boundaries, such as the opening fragment beginning “While others believe…”. Practise building complex sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and proofread agreement, articles and punctuation.

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