Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

It is believed that competitive environment at office, school and in life is beneficial because it ensures better performance. While other people argue that coorporative environment has more advantages. I support the latter view because it has positive influence on mental health and improves learning. This essay will examine the both views and explain the reason of my agreement.

The advocates of competitive environment believe that it encourages the individuals to perform well. This is further explained by that when a person works in such surroundings, he feels motivated and try to do better and better. Furthermore, children at school feel appericiated when score better than classmates that leads them to study even harder to outperform others. For instance, if a kid at school gets an award for ranking first in the class, other get inspire and try to gain that award next time. Consequently it allows them to perform best.

I agree with the latter point that coorporative environment has more strengths. One of the major reasons is mental wellbeing. It is becuase when fellows and colleagues are coorporative, it gives rise to a stress free environment which results in stable mental state. I believe that such surroundings are more positive for people to perform their tasks well. Another reason is improved learning. To illustrate this, when everybody has helping nature, it encourages learning from each others perspective that give rise multiple ideas.

To conclude, competition can cause stress and burden, while coorporation ensures stable environment and gives rise to several useful ideas. Hence, coorporative environment is more beneficial

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the question and make your position clear: you support cooperation because of its effects on mental wellbeing and learning. The competition paragraph gives relevant reasons and an example about a student receiving an award, while the cooperation paragraphs explain two benefits. This meets the task overall, but the views are not developed equally. The discussion of competition focuses mainly on motivation and outperforming classmates, and the cooperation points are asserted more than fully explained; for example, the claim that cooperation creates a “stress free environment” would benefit from a specific situation or clearer explanation. To strengthen the response, develop each main point with a fuller cause-and-effect explanation or a concrete example, and make the comparison between the two approaches more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on competition, a paragraph supporting cooperation, and a conclusion. The order of ideas is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “For instance,” and “To conclude” help show how points relate. However, some linking is mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “Furthermore,” “Another reason,” and “To illustrate this.” A few connections are also unclear: “that leads them to study” has an uncertain reference, and “that give rise multiple ideas” does not clearly connect the learning process to its result. Use more precise referencing and vary transitions by showing the actual relationship between ideas. This would make the progression smoother while preserving the clear paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competitive environment,” “mental wellbeing,” “outperform,” and “stable mental state.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors are noticeable. Examples include “coorporative” (repeated), “appericiated,” “get inspire,” and “helping nature”; these forms make parts of the response less natural and can slow the reader. Some phrases are also imprecise, such as “perform best” and “gives rise multiple ideas.” Build a more accurate set of collocations for discussing competition and cooperation, and proofread spelling and word forms. More precise choices would help express the ideas with greater clarity and flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including subordinate clauses beginning with “because,” “when,” and “that,” and the overall meaning remains understandable. Some grammatical errors occur, especially in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “a person … he feels motivated and try” shifts from singular to plural agreement, while “that leads them to study” has an unclear pronoun reference. In “learning from each others perspective that give rise multiple ideas,” the possessive and verb structure are not controlled. The opening “While other people argue…” is also a fragment rather than a complete sentence. Review subject–verb agreement, article use, and how to join dependent clauses; aim to retain complex structures while checking that each sentence is complete and grammatically consistent.

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