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)

Some people aruge that competition in workplace, education and everyday life has significant benefits, others believe that greater emphasis should be place on cooperation rather than competing against each other. In my opinion both are important, but cooperation is more beneficial in the long term because it encourages teamwork, mutual support and shared success. Healthy competition can still motivate individuals to improve.

On one hand competition motivates people to improve their performance to outperform others. With the help of motivation students study harderto achieve better grades. Employees become more productive to earn promotions. People identify their weakness and learn new skills. For instance, At school, students may prepare more seriously for examinations when they want to achieve higher marks than their classmates.

On the other hand cooperation builds stronger relationships and helps people achieve common goals. This is because it encourages team work where people share ideas, knowledge and responsibilities. As people are working for common goals they can support each other instead of feeling pressure. A team can achieve more together than individuals working separately. For example, At work, employees who share their knowledge and collaborate on a project can solve problems faster and deliver better results. In my opinion cooperation is more valuable because success often depends on collective effort rather than individual performance alone.

In conclusion, both competition and cooperation are important to get success in life. Although competition can encourage personal development, I believe cooperation should be given greater importance because it promotes collective progress and stronger relationships.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a consistent position: competition can motivate improvement, but cooperation is more valuable over time. Relevant examples—students aiming for higher marks and colleagues sharing knowledge—help explain each side. This meets the task well, though the discussion is not equally developed throughout. The competition paragraph lists benefits such as productivity and learning new skills, but gives limited explanation of how these benefits affect people beyond the brief school example. The cooperation argument is more fully explained through shared goals and faster problem-solving. To strengthen the response further, develop the competition side with a specific consequence or example and explain more precisely why cooperation’s benefits are longer-lasting.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Signposting such as “On one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the progression easy to follow. Ideas within the cooperation paragraph also move logically from sharing responsibilities to supporting one another and achieving better results. Some connections are more mechanical than flexible, however, and the repeated use of “because” and “For example” makes the linking noticeable. The sentence beginning “As people are working for common goals” could be connected more smoothly to the preceding explanation. Use a wider range of transitions and clearer links between claims and examples to make cohesion more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “outperform,” “mutual support,” “productive,” “collective effort,” and “common goals.” These choices communicate the main ideas clearly, and some phrases show an attempt to express concepts beyond basic vocabulary. However, there are several spelling, word-form, and collocation slips, such as “aruge,” “harderto,” “weakness” where the plural is needed, and “get success.” Some expressions are also repetitive, particularly “achieve” and “people.” These issues do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Proofread spelling carefully and build more accurate collocations, for example, “achieve success” and “identify their weaknesses,” while varying repeated words where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a clear contrast clause in “Although competition can encourage personal development, I believe cooperation should be given greater importance.” Most sentences are understandable, and errors rarely obstruct the message. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, however. In the opening, “greater emphasis should be place” needs the past participle “placed”; “People identify their weakness” needs plural agreement with the intended meaning; and “As people are working for common goals” is awkwardly formed for a general statement. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly the comma splice between the two opening clauses and missing commas after introductory phrases. Review verb forms, sentence boundaries, and punctuation to improve control.

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