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)

Over the past years there has been a debate among people that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing and on the other hand some people believe that they should cooperate more than competing against each other . Competing with people is a good approach towards learning but it has some negative aspects also . However,cooperative approach towards people has proven to be more fruitful than competing against them.

Imagine a student at school who is not good in science subjects but has a strong command on general subjects .While on the other hand some students who are good at science subjects and weak in generals. So if they will keep on competing against each other then their will be no room left for productivity, learning and eventually their grades and environment will be compromised. But if they take a more flexible approach towards each other . For example helping each other in studies will help them to identify their weak areas and can eventually improve their grade and create a more flexible environment.

On the other side of story , the adults in working profession constantly compete against other employees just for the sake of appreciation from the ones who usually dont admire that.In result to that , the environment of the office is compromised . On the other hand if they take a relative balanced approach towards each other by helping each other in daily to daily tasks will eventually benefit their job and a healthy environment at office will be maintained.

In conclusion , competition is a good thing but it shouldnot be against someone it should be against our own selfs. How well we are doing how far we have come in this journey . In daily life without cooperation you wont be able to the things

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You present a relevant overall view: cooperation is generally more productive, while competition can be useful when directed at personal improvement. The school example explains how students with different strengths could help one another, and the workplace paragraph also supports cooperation. However, the discussion of the benefits of competition is brief and does not fully explain the opposing view; the opening only says it is “a good approach towards learning.” Your position becomes clearest in the conclusion, but the final sentence is unfinished, so the answer does not fully resolve the argument. Develop both sides more evenly and complete the conclusion with a clear explanation of how cooperation and healthy competition can coexist. The response meets the required length; 14 words copied from the prompt were not counted.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to examples about school and work, then a conclusion. These examples give the reader a basic route through your ideas. However, progression is sometimes difficult to follow because linking phrases are repetitive or imprecise, such as “On the other side of story” and “On the other hand,” and the school paragraph shifts between contrasting student profiles without a clear sentence structure. Some sentences also end abruptly, particularly the final line, which weakens the overall progression. Use topic sentences to state each paragraph’s main point, connect examples explicitly to that point, and ensure each paragraph and the conclusion form complete, logically linked units.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competition,” “cooperate,” “productivity,” “weak areas,” and “healthy environment.” There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “strong command” and “flexible approach.” However, several word combinations are unnatural or imprecise, including “good in science subjects,” “generals,” “relative balanced approach,” and “daily to daily tasks.” Repetition of “approach,” “environment,” and “each other” also limits range. Choose more natural collocations and vary how you describe the effects of competition and cooperation. For example, refer to students being “strong in science” and to “routine tasks” at work. More accurate word choice would make your argument clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if they take a more flexible approach” and clauses beginning with “who.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some passages difficult to follow. For example, “if they will keep on competing” uses an unsuitable future form in the conditional, while “their will be no room” confuses “there” and “their.” Other problems include “students who are good at science subjects and weak in generals,” which lacks a complete parallel construction, and the unfinished final sentence. Punctuation and spacing around commas and full stops are also inconsistent. Practise building complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and check conditional forms, agreement, and sentence endings.

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