Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-15

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)

People have differing opinions on competition is good thing at workplace, at school and in daily life, whereas others argue that individuals should be more cooperative rather than being competitive. Although both perspective have their merits, I believe an individual should be competitive and cooperative at the same time.

To commence with, many poeple think that being in competition is a good thing as it makes an individual more ready for their work and future. Competiton helps people to develop their their competitive skills in their perferred career fields. Although it encourages students and employess to work harder to win against other, it may result in weakening their cooperative abilities. For example, students in schools focused too much on winning, as a result they started following cheating codes, as a consequence it leads to disobey rules and damage their freindships.

On the contrary, some people argue that every one should try to be cooperative with each other, rather than standing against one another. This is because a good integrated environment in workplace, in school leads to overall development of individuals in professional and personal aspects. When they all would be helpful to each other, they will learn different skills from each other, as a result relationships will more strengthen and personal and professional dreams will be acheived.

To sum up, I personally believe all individuals should be cooperative with each other, rathern that competing against one another. Although there are certain advantages of being competitive and being cooperative, one must use their skills when needed. Professional and personal abilities make an individual.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the discussion and state a position in the introduction: you initially support combining competition and cooperation, while the conclusion favours cooperation over competition. This shift makes your overall view less consistent. The competition paragraph gives a relevant benefit—preparation for work and career development—and a possible drawback, but the example about cheating is not clearly connected to how competition can be beneficial. The cooperation paragraph explains how people can learn from one another and build relationships, though these points remain general and are not supported with a specific example. Develop each side more fully and make your final opinion consistent with the position established at the start.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. This makes the discussion easy to follow. You also use signposting such as “To commence with,” “On the contrary,” and “To sum up” to show the stages of your argument. However, some links are mechanical or do not express the relationship precisely. In the first body paragraph, “as a result” and “as a consequence” are used close together, while the connection between competition and cheating needs clearer explanation. The final paragraph also introduces a position that differs from the introduction. Use fewer formulaic transitions, clarify cause-and-effect links, and maintain a consistent line of argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “competitive skills,” “cooperative abilities,” “integrated environment,” and “professional and personal aspects.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For example, “competition is good thing” and “cheating codes” do not express the intended ideas naturally; “relationships will more strengthen” is also an awkward phrase. Spelling errors such as “poeple,” “perferred,” “freindships,” and “acheived” are noticeable. Build a more precise range of topic vocabulary and check spelling and collocations carefully, especially when using less familiar expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “Although” and “When,” and most of the main ideas remain understandable. However, some sentence structures are faulty, and errors in articles, agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction recur. For instance, “People have differing opinions on competition is good thing” needs a grammatical structure such as “opinions on whether competition is a good thing.” In “relationships will more strengthen,” the verb phrase is incorrectly formed, and “when they all would be helpful” uses an unsuitable conditional construction. There are also run-on or awkwardly joined clauses in the example about students. Practise accurate complex sentences and review articles, subject–verb agreement, and verb patterns.

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