Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Due to the fact that the humanity is limited in resources, constant competition became the important part of people's everyday life. The pressure of that competiton can be felt at school and work places. Some people believe that this factor is beneficial for the society while others think that cooperating should totally replace it.

On the one hand, competing against each other may significantly increase the standard of living for several reasons. Firstly, competiton on an individual level often makes people develop their skills enthusiastically. It can be a great piece of motivation for everyone to be better in their sphere of expertise. Secondly, the competition among workers might help the employer to choose the best one to perform a particular task. However, other employees may be chosen to do something else using the same principle. Also, competition can be beneficial for confident and accomplished people who want to have an autonomy while working. Therefore, they may be more effective for the business.

On the other hand, cooperating has a great number of advantages as well. First of all, it motivates people to develop their soft skills. Furthermore, it may help individuals to make new friends and get rid of constant anxiety connected to competing. Secondly, cooperation might be followed by the substantial increase in work effectiveness. For instance, employees may form groups naturally so that every task will be done faster avoiding mistakes. Moreover, working together might means that all opinions on an issue can be considered. That is why, it is easier to find the best solution skipping ineffective options.

As for me, I believe that it is tremendously important to combine cooperation and competing to maximize the efficiciency. In some situations it is more beneficial to let people show their best to choose the candidate. However, other cases require working together.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the discussion and give a clear personal view: you argue that competition can help people improve and employers select suitable workers, while cooperation supports soft skills, reduces anxiety and improves group decisions. These are relevant points, and the examples about employees forming groups and choosing a candidate help illustrate them. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the claim that competition raises the standard of living is not clearly linked to the reasons that follow, and the point about confident workers benefiting from autonomy is only briefly developed. Your conclusion says the two approaches should be combined, but could explain more precisely when each is most useful. Developing these points would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding opinion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “As for me” make the progression easy to follow, and ideas within each paragraph generally move in a logical order. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger cohesion. However, the repeated “Firstly/Secondly” pattern can feel mechanical, and some links between claims are not fully explicit. For example, the connection between selecting the best worker and the following point about other employees doing something else is unclear. Varying transitions and making these relationships explicit would strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “standard of living,” “sphere of expertise,” “soft skills,” “substantial increase,” and “ineffective options.” These choices allow you to discuss both individual and workplace effects, and the meaning is generally clear. You also attempt some less common expressions, but accuracy and natural collocation are uneven: “the humanity is limited in resources,” “a great piece of motivation,” and “have an autonomy” do not sound natural in context. There are also spelling errors such as “competiton” and “efficiciency.” These slips do not prevent understanding, but more precise collocations and careful proofreading would improve control and make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “while,” “so that,” and “who,” and most sentences communicate their main meaning. Some grammatical errors remain, but they rarely obstruct understanding. For example, “the humanity is limited in resources” has an article and number problem, “working together might means” uses the wrong verb form after a modal, and “every task will be done faster avoiding mistakes” needs clearer clause structure and punctuation. The sentence beginning “Due to the fact that…” also shows an attempt at a complex opening, though its construction is not fully controlled. Review articles, subject–verb patterns, modal verbs, and punctuation in longer sentences, then proofread for accuracy.

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