Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-17

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 6.0)

Competition is a common phenomenon which exists in daily part of an individual's life from personal to professional. Some people are of the view that being competitive is a positive approach while others favour cooperation over competition. Although I agree that cooperation instills mutual understanding in human beings and promotes harmony in a society, I believe that competition given that it is healthy and fair should exist to yield efficiency and better results.

With the unprecedented compeition existing at work, school and in routine life. Individuals are being pressurized to perform better in order to stand out from the crowd. This undue stress may lead to people going extremely harsh against each other. This is the reason that people living in a society should try to cooperate with each other as this will ensure a win-win situation for both the parties. Mutual agreements in any case ingrain positive feelings in the members of the society which promote harmony.

While given that the competition is fair, the idea of performing when you have other people particpating in the same prompts an individual to perform at their full potential. I am of the view that any person's motivation to perform either in their professional or personal life is majorly driven by the nature and participants of competition. If it doesn't exist, individuals will never be able to discover their utmost best results and we would have never been able to see world's greatest players and leaders. In other words, competition encourages anyone to become the best version of themselves creating a sense of achievement and confidence.=, feelings which can never be attained with no competition.

To conclude, while competition creates a negative feeling in some individuals, people should cooperate with each other to maintain peace in a society, I believe that healthy competition brings positive change in individual's life through effective performance and achievement.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both perspectives and state a clear position: cooperation supports social harmony, while fair competition can improve performance. The discussion of cooperation is relevant, particularly the point that mutual agreements can create a “win-win situation.” You also explain how competition may motivate people to reach their potential. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully developed: for example, the claim that without competition people would not discover their best results would benefit from a specific example or explanation. The negative effects of competition are also described broadly, without showing when cooperation is especially effective. Your position is clear, and the response covers the task, but fuller support and more balanced development would strengthen it further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for cooperation and competition, and a conclusion. The progression from the drawbacks of excessive competition to its benefits when fair is easy to follow, and phrases such as “In other words” help signal explanation. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear. The opening of the second paragraph, “With the unprecedented competition…,” is a sentence fragment, which interrupts the flow. The final sentence also joins contrasting points with a comma, making the relationship between them less clear. Some references, such as “This” in “This is the reason,” could identify the preceding idea more precisely. More controlled links between claims and examples would make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “mutual understanding,” “harmony,” “full potential,” and “sense of achievement.” These choices help express the contrast between cooperation and competition. You also attempt less common or formal expressions, but some are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “competition existing,” “going extremely harsh against each other,” and “ingrain positive feelings.” Spelling slips, including “compeition” and “particpating,” also reduce accuracy. In places, abstract wording makes the meaning less precise, as in “the nature and participants of competition.” Aim for natural collocations and choose specific terms that express the intended relationship. This would make your vocabulary more flexible and precise while preserving your formal tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including concessive clauses such as “Although I agree…” and conditional phrasing such as “given that it is healthy and fair.” Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems remain. “With the unprecedented competition… Individuals are being pressurized” is a fragment because the opening phrase is not connected to a main clause. In “the idea of performing when you have other people participating… prompts,” the long construction makes the subject–verb relationship difficult to control. The conclusion joins two independent ideas with a comma, and “feelings which” would be clearer with appropriate punctuation. Review sentence boundaries and simplify complex constructions when needed; more consistently controlled clauses would improve accuracy.

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