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 always remain in struggle and put efforts to achieve any thing in their lives. Some people believe that competition is better in workplace amoung students or people whereas other people think that cooperate with each other is more important. In this essay we will discuss both views then will presents my opinion.

On the one hand, school and in workplace several people want to complete task before the other individual. People work hard to earn reward or get appriciation from school or company. For example, people in competition practice alot or spend more time and work on their performance to gain respect, promotion and appriciation before other contestant. As a result, companies promote those people or reward them for their hardwork which booste their confidence for upcoming targets.

On the other hand, Although working as team increase more progress, also take less time and efforts to complete any task. For example, a person working on any task individually needs to put efforts, extra time and energy but working as team can take less time as everyone share their experience or brain storm and divide their task. Consequently, alot of time can be saved and individual can focus properly on single task. This can increase productivity of every team mate and increase growth of that sector.

My opinion, competition can booste people confidence but teamwork gain knowledge of every person who is working in that group. In cooperate every one can share their practical experience with every person.

Conclusion, competition brings intentions and greed of reward so everyone will selfish. whereas, cooperate can reduce the time of task which also benefits everyone by share their skills knowledge with each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response discusses both competition and cooperation and gives a personal view, so it addresses the main parts of the prompt. The competition paragraph explains that striving for rewards can encourage effort and lead to recognition or promotion; the cooperation paragraph gives relevant benefits such as sharing experience and saving time. However, the position is not fully clear or consistently reasoned: the opinion paragraph praises both approaches, while the conclusion says competition creates selfishness without explaining how this fits with the earlier benefits. Several points remain general, and the examples are hypothetical rather than developed. To strengthen the response, state which approach you favour and explain the conditions in which competition or cooperation is most beneficial, supporting this with a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, an opinion paragraph and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “Consequently” help readers follow the broad structure. However, progression within and between ideas is sometimes unclear. The opinion paragraph repeats the benefits of teamwork rather than clearly connecting them to a definite position, and the conclusion introduces the claim that competition makes people selfish without preparing or explaining it. Some linking is mechanical, and references such as “this” in “This can increase productivity” could identify the idea more precisely. Organise each body paragraph around one main claim, explain its cause and result, and make the conclusion directly summarise the position established earlier.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas, with relevant terms such as “reward,” “promotion,” “productivity,” and “practical experience.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make the writing less natural and occasionally harder to understand. Examples include “complete task before the other individual,” “gain respect … before other contestant,” and “competition brings intentions,” where the intended meaning is unclear or the phrasing is not idiomatic. Spelling errors such as “amoung,” “appriciation,” and “alot” are also noticeable. Build a more precise vocabulary for comparing the two approaches, and check common collocations and spelling; for instance, use “compete to complete a task first” and “earn recognition.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “Although” and a result clause beginning “which.” However, the range is limited, and complex constructions are often faulty. Examples include “In this essay we will discuss both views then will presents my opinion,” “working as team increase more progress,” and “everyone share their experience,” which show problems with verb forms, articles and subject–verb agreement. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention, particularly in “On the other hand, Although…” and the final conclusion, where clauses are joined awkwardly. These errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Practise accurate sentence patterns first, especially subject–verb agreement and infinitive forms, then use a wider range of complex sentences with clear punctuation.

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