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)

In modern education, school competition is widely. Consider a way to motivate student to improve their academic performance and personal abilities. A group of people articulate that competing with other encourage individual to improve their ability. While Other argue that Corporation is more beneficial. In my opinion. Although, competition can motivate people to achieve their goal. Corporation is more important for receiving long-term success.

On the one hand, competition can motivate individuals to improve their performance and achieve their goal. When you shouldn't companies with their friends, they may work harder and develop better skills to achieve higher marks. Similarly, competition in the workplace can encourage employed to become more productive and innovative. For example, student who practice in academic competition of punishment more timing, improving their knowledge and solving problem, there for healthy completion can help individual to recognise their problem and achieve personal growth.

On the other hand, Corporation is equally banning important because it encourage people to share ideas and help each other and working in groups. In school student, who work in team can learn from each other's strength and understand difficults topic more easily. Likewise, employees can complete complex task more efficiently when they collaborate rather than compete against their colleagues. Foreign instance, a team work on a project can often produce better resulted by combining in the long-term because it's built trust and help people to achieve common goals.

In my opinion, although competition can motivate people to improve, Corporation is more beneficial in long-term success.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the question and gives a clear overall preference for cooperation, especially in the opening and concluding paragraphs. Relevant reasons are offered: competition may encourage harder work and productivity, while cooperation allows people to share ideas and complete complex tasks. However, some points are not fully explained or are difficult to interpret, particularly the example about an academic competition and the claim that teamwork produces better results “in the long-term.” The discussion of cooperation is also less clearly supported than the general claim suggests. To strengthen the response, explain each example in a more direct sequence and show specifically how it supports the stated benefit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding opinion. The progression from competition to cooperation is logical, and signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In my opinion” help readers follow the argument. However, some linking is mechanical, and several sentences are difficult to connect because their meaning is unclear, as in the example beginning “For example, student who practice…” The conclusion repeats the position but does not draw together the main reasons. Use clearer references between claims and examples, and make each paragraph develop one central point in a more orderly way.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response attempts relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “academic performance,” “productive,” “innovative,” “collaborate,” and “common goals.” These choices show an effort to discuss both education and work. However, noticeable word-choice, spelling, and collocation errors sometimes make the message difficult to understand. For example, “Corporation” is repeatedly used where “cooperation” is intended, and “healthy completion” appears to mean “healthy competition.” Phrases such as “academic competition of punishment” and “equally banning important” are also unclear. Build accuracy by checking the exact form and meaning of key topic words, and learn common combinations such as “work in a team” and “achieve higher marks.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There is an attempt to use both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “When,” “Although,” and “because.” Some sentences communicate the intended point clearly, such as the comparison between employees completing tasks collaboratively or competitively. However, errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles, and verb forms occur in several places. For instance, “In my opinion. Although, competition…” breaks the sentence incorrectly, while “it encourage people” lacks subject–verb agreement and “student who work in team” has problems with number and article use. Practise proofreading complete sentences and checking that subjects, verbs, and singular or plural nouns agree.

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