Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

It is often argued that some people believe that competing at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing, while others think that rather than competing against each other we should try to cooperate more. I will discuss both statements before concluding that cooperation is better than competing because it helps achieve better results and develop stronger relationships with others.

On the one hand, some people believe that competing at work, at school and in daily life is better because it encourages people to improve their performance and develop self confidence. People who likes to compete motivates people to work harder and improve thier skills to achive better outcomes.For instance, in school many students like to compete on their grading which enhance their performance in subjects and they achieve better results. Secondly, competition also support people to become more confident and learn how to handle challenges and pressure.

On the other hand, some people think that cooperation is more important than competition becuase it helps them to get better outcomes and made good relationships with others.When people work together, they share ideas, skills and knowledge which increase their problem-solving ability.For example, in office when people work together in teams they produce more effective and usefull results rather than working alone.Cooperation also increases their connections with high level individuals and mutual support, reduce conflicts at work, school, and in daily life.

In conclusion, while competition in different aspects of life helps increases people self-confidence and performance, I believe that cooperation is much better due to the fact that it improves their results and relationships. Therefore, people should focus on working together rather than competing against each other.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a consistent opinion: the introduction and conclusion clearly favour cooperation. The discussion is relevant, with examples from school and the workplace, such as students competing over grades and teams sharing ideas. This meets the task well overall. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained: for example, the claim that competition builds confidence is not supported with a specific explanation, and the benefits of workplace cooperation could be developed beyond producing “more effective” results. To strengthen the response further, explain how each example demonstrates the claimed benefit and add a little more detail to the less-developed points. The response meets the stated length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the progression easy to follow. Within paragraphs, however, some links feel mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “Secondly” and “For example,” and several ideas are joined without adequate punctuation, as in “results.When people work together.” The relationship between cooperation and “connections with high level individuals” is also not fully clear. Use a wider range of linking methods, and make sure each sentence connects explicitly to the point before it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “performance,” “self confidence,” “problem-solving ability,” and “mutual support.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate or imprecise. For example, “compete on their grading” is not a natural way to describe students competing academically, while “more effective and usefull results” is vague. Spelling errors such as “thier,” “achive,” and “becuase” also reduce accuracy. Aim to use more precise expressions for the examples and check spelling carefully; this would make your argument clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a subordinate clause in “because it helps them to get better outcomes” and a contrast structure in the introduction. The main meaning is generally understandable, but errors in agreement and verb forms recur. For example, “People who likes to compete motivates” should have consistent subject–verb agreement, and “competition also support” needs a singular verb. There are also problems with forms such as “helps increases” and “reduce conflicts,” as well as missing spaces after full stops. Work on checking the subject and verb in each clause, and punctuate sentence boundaries consistently. More accurate control of these patterns would improve the range you already attempt.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.