Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-13

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)

The importance of competition in everyday life has been a significant topic of discussion for years. One category of people think that competitivness is benefitical at work, at school and generally on a daily basis, while others appreciate cooperation more. From my perspective, ability to cooperate can result in a better outcome than competition.

Admittedly, competing with counterparts gives a person reason to grow and work harder to achieve goals. Some people associate competition with a challenge that needs to be overcome in order to succeed. They think that they are surrounded by smarter, more hardworking or even stronger people and without passing them they will loose the position or remain stuck in one place. In this case, competition helps people to use every possible alternative to gain an advantage over someone else. For instance, at school pupils compete with others to gain higher grades and prove themselves to teachers and parents. Other than that, the fear of being overshadowed by someone else makes them work even harder.

However, cooperation can bring more benefits as it creates equality and brings out important skills in people such as a teamwork and concession. When people start to cooperate insted of compiting, they begin to value each others work. Additionally, cooperation means combining skills of two or more, which exceeds the ability of a single person and can bring greater success. For example, when two coworkers are assigned a task to create project, instead of competing they have to work together, share ideas and create the project using boths' ideas and abilities. As a result, at the end they appreciate each other more and learn the importance of teamwork. While competition might bring out hatered towards one another, cooperation enhences relationships and establishes friendships. Accordingly, The process of cooperation can be helpful even if the project fails.

In conclusion, competition helps a person to work harder in order to pass someone else, while cooperation teaches appreciation and value of working together, which creates better persons and shifts focus from prize to individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both views and gives a clear opinion: cooperation is presented as more beneficial, particularly in the opening and conclusion. The discussion of competition is supported with a relevant school example, while the coworker project illustrates how cooperation can combine abilities and strengthen relationships. These explanations extend the main points sufficiently and keep the response focused on the question. To make the argument more fully developed, explain the conditions under which competition can be useful or harmful, rather than relying mainly on the idea that it motivates people to work harder. The claim that cooperation “creates equality” is also introduced but not explained, so clarifying or replacing it would make the reasoning more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: it introduces the issue and position, considers competition, contrasts it with cooperation, and concludes by restating the preference for cooperation. Paragraphing supports this structure, and signposts such as “Admittedly,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument. Within the cooperation paragraph, ideas move from shared skills to relationships and then to the value of the process, giving the discussion a logical sequence. Some linking is more formulaic than necessary, particularly “Other than that” and “Accordingly,” and the final sentence of that paragraph feels loosely connected to the preceding example. Use transitions that express the precise relationship between ideas, and make references between sentences more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “counterparts,” “overshadowed,” “combining skills,” and “establishes friendships,” which helps express the contrast between competition and cooperation. However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision and sometimes make phrases awkward: “competitivness,” “benefitical,” “loose,” “hatered,” and “enhences” are examples. There are also collocation and form issues in phrases such as “a teamwork and concession,” “create project,” and “boths’ ideas.” These do not prevent the overall meaning from being understood, but they limit the accuracy and flexibility of the vocabulary. Proofread spelling and check common word partnerships, especially when using less familiar expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

There is a useful mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses in “When people start to cooperate…” and a contrast structure in “While competition might bring out…”. Most ideas remain understandable, and the response shows some control of longer sentences. However, grammatical errors persist in articles, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “One category of people think” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “ability to cooperate” needs an article in this context. In “when two coworkers are assigned a task to create project,” the article is missing, and “they appreciate each other more and learn” shifts awkwardly from the example’s past framing. Review article use and maintain consistent, clear sentence patterns; this would build on the range already attempted.

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