Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-19

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)

Competition is a noraml thing in this era where everyone wants to be more superior than one another. In the point of view of some people its a good thing to compete with our colligues, and school fellows. Infact many of the people does not think like that. In their opinion, we should try to help other instead of challanging eachother.This essay will explore both sides of the argument, before reaching a logical opinnion.

Competition is a good thing. It works as a motivation for people like in schools when two students are in contest they will try their best for getting a good position in the classroom. Also at work places colligues also do their best to get a good seat and promotion in their office as compare to other person who is him/her rivalry.

However other community supposed that humans should have to try to make life ease for eachother. If we see as a person its a very humble thing. Its also a very good deed. In this world life gets more difficult day by day for every person. So we should help everyone. It does not matter to having good grades, oppertunities at work places but helping eachother is. When we support someone Allah subhan w talah opens the door and make life more easy for us.

From my perspective, We should facilitate people at schools, offices and anywhere we can do instead of any kind of competition. There is nothing reward for doing contrast but cooperation have.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response discusses both perspectives and gives a personal view: competition is presented as motivation for students and employees, while cooperation is linked to helping others, and the conclusion clearly favours cooperation. These points are relevant, but they are only briefly explained. For example, the school and workplace examples say people try to achieve a good position or promotion, without showing when competition is beneficial or what drawbacks it may have. The cooperation paragraph relies mainly on general claims about helping people and religious belief, rather than developing a specific example. To strengthen the response, explain each view more fully and make the reasoning behind your preference clearer, including how cooperation can produce better outcomes than rivalry.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding opinion. Transitions such as “However” and “From my perspective” help signal changes in direction. However, progression within paragraphs is limited, and some links between ideas are unclear. For instance, the move from “helping eachother” to “good grades” and workplace opportunities does not clearly explain how these ideas relate. The conclusion repeats the preference for cooperation but does not draw together the discussion. Some linking phrases, including “This essay will explore both sides,” are formulaic and do not add much development. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses a basic range of vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “motivation,” “promotion,” “rivalry,” “cooperation,” and “support.” These words make the main ideas understandable, but vocabulary is often repetitive or imprecise, and several spelling and word-choice errors reduce clarity. Examples include “noraml,” “colligues,” “challanging,” and “oppertunities.” Phrases such as “get a good seat” and “doing contrast” do not express the intended workplace or competition meanings naturally. Aim to use accurate topic-specific collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise wording would help distinguish healthy competition from cooperation without relying repeatedly on general terms such as “good thing” and “help.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “when two students are in contest” and a complex sentence about supporting others. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and punctuation sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “many of the people does not think like that” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “we should have to try” combines modal forms incorrectly. The sentence beginning “It does not matter to having good grades” is also structurally unclear. Practise building accurate clauses with one clear main verb, and check agreement and article use. Greater accuracy in these patterns would make the argument easier to read.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.