Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-16

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)

Many people debate between competition and cooperation. I believe a combination of both is the right approach for our daily life. By combination i mean cooperative group competition.

Competition at work or school are important because it can push us to our best. The desire to win against others is often the motivation we need to succeed in that task. For example, competing against your friends in school for better grade in the exam can be a really good way to do better in the upcoming exams. On the other hand , unhealthy competition can be problematic. It can create hatred between people. If your desire to win becomes too important then it can lead to harm and violence.

Cooperation is an important aspect of human life. Humans are social being. The ability to cooperate has given humans the edge above all other animals. A single human has limited strength but if we combine our strength with others we can multiply our power. Some people are good at creative thinking , some have extraordinary strengh and some have other talents. If we combine everyones speciality and cooperate then we can yield the best result .We can also observe the power of cooperation in insects like ants and bees.Though they are small insects, by working together they can build huge colonies. Similarly, we can acheive much better result if we cooperate with others in our task.

In conclusion, we should be competitive but not overcompetitive. Combination of competition and cooperation should be followed in work. Schools should implement more group competition in their curriculum for maximum effectiveness.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address both sides of the discussion and state a clear position: “a combination of both is the right approach.” The response gives relevant support for competition, including motivation and the risk of hostility, and for cooperation, using human collaboration and ants and bees as examples. Your conclusion also returns to your view and offers a practical suggestion about group competition in schools. These features make the response purposeful and well supported. To develop the discussion further, explain more precisely how cooperation and competition can operate together—for example, how teams might cooperate internally while competing with other teams. Some claims, such as cooperation giving humans an “edge above all other animals,” are broad and would be stronger with more specific explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an introduction presents your position, separate body paragraphs discuss competition and cooperation, and the conclusion summarises your view. Linking phrases such as “On the other hand,” “For example,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument, and the paragraphing is appropriate. The main opportunity is to make connections between ideas more precise and less reliant on familiar signposts. For instance, the shift from human cooperation to ants and bees is understandable, but a sentence explicitly linking the example back to cooperation in work or school would strengthen the progression. The opening phrase “By combination i mean cooperative group competition” also introduces an idea that could be integrated more smoothly into the later discussion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for discussing the topic, and you use some relevant expressions, including “unhealthy competition,” “motivation,” “cooperate,” and “yield the best result.” Meaning remains clear throughout. However, the range is sometimes general or repetitive: “good,” “important,” “better result,” and “work together” could be replaced with more precise language. There are also spelling and word-choice slips, such as “strengh,” “acheive,” and “speciality,” as well as the awkward phrase “edge above all other animals.” These do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and control. Aim to use topic-specific collocations naturally and check spelling carefully, especially in key terms that carry your argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including conditional sentences such as “If your desire to win becomes too important then it can lead to harm and violence,” and a relative clause in “the motivation we need to succeed.” Most ideas are understandable, and some sentences are controlled well. Some grammatical errors remain, however: “Competition … are important” has subject–verb disagreement, “Humans are social being” needs a plural noun, and “for better grade” needs an article or plural form. There are also punctuation and capitalisation slips, such as the lowercase “i” and missing spaces around punctuation. To strengthen accuracy, check agreement, articles, and sentence punctuation while continuing to use varied sentence patterns.

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.