Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

There is a considerable debate among certain group of people that having a challanging environement in each sector of life can be a beneficial thing. However, some contend that we should encourage cooperation among each group. There are some positive impacts of giving competition to each other but enforcing it too much should not be productive

Firstly, competition make a person stronger both mentally and physically. This is because in order to win from the opponent people may feel more motivated to put more efforts into their work. People may make their life tougher then before to acquire their goal. This will untimatley benefit them mentally as their mind will become sharp than earlier. For instance, a students at school may try to solve every difficult problem related to course, this can enhance his thinking and processing ability. Moreover, individuals can also experience physical benefit by having a competatory environemt. As suucess demands mental as well as physical effort to come in.

However, it is sometime considered that competition can spread hate among workers and students. As if a person is successfull in beating its competitor, the other may started to hate the winner and may try his best to take revenge by going out of the way. For if an employee is anticipating to get promotion but company may reward it to other becuse of his hardwork, this may create misunderstanding. However, cooperative environment enables people to understand each others problem, and give relevent solution to that problem. This results in spreading love among all. Consequently everyone will have live tike brother.

In conclusion, competition is an intrintic part of life to prepare one for future by giving tough time and make him mentally and physically stronger while somtimes this can cause to unsuitable circumstance which give rise to hate, however cooperation can encourage brotherhood.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation, and your position is broadly that competition can be useful but should not be excessive. The first body paragraph gives relevant benefits, including motivation and improved problem-solving, while the second explains how rivalry may create resentment and contrasts this with cooperation. However, the discussion is uneven: the claim that competition brings physical benefits is not clearly explained, and the example about promotion focuses more on disappointment than on how cooperation could resolve the conflict. Your conclusion repeats the main points but does not make your personal preference fully explicit. Develop each main idea with a clearer explanation or example, and state directly which approach you believe should be prioritised and why.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of the argument. You also use linking expressions such as “Firstly,” “However,” “Moreover,” and “Consequently.” At times, though, these links are mechanical or do not show the relationship accurately. For example, “However” introduces a point that continues the discussion of competition, and “For if an employee” does not connect smoothly to the preceding sentence. Some references are also unclear, such as “the other” and “that problem.” Improve the progression by making each paragraph’s main point explicit and using transitions and pronouns that clearly connect ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “motivated,” “opponent,” “misunderstanding,” and “cooperative environment.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts of the argument difficult to interpret. Phrases such as “giving competition to each other,” “win from the opponent,” and “spread hate” are not natural in this context; “compete with one another,” “defeat a rival,” and “create resentment” would be more precise. Spelling errors, including “challanging,” “environement,” and “untimatley,” also reduce accuracy. Build a bank of topic-specific collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully, especially in key claims.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including explanations with “because” and conditional structures such as “if a person is successful…”. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “competition make a person,” “a students… may try,” and “the other may started to hate.” The sentence beginning “As if a person…” is also incomplete or awkwardly joined to the next idea. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and keeping each sentence’s main clause clear. Shorter, accurately controlled sentences would help you express the argument more reliably while you develop complex structures.

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