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)

While one school of thought holds that having competition at work and school is a good thing for daily basis, others are of opinion that it is nescessary to cooperate instead of competing against each other. This essay will first closely examined both viewpoints before concluding that I agree with the latter.

On the one hand, it is understandable why some people advocate the idea that competition at workplace and school is a nescessary thing in daily life. One major reason is that it motivates personal growth and skill development. Obviously, competition should be held as a cataplyst for helping people stayed in their own purposes and strive for excellence. For example, in academic settings, competitive environment might support for students to try their best to acheive their goals and move forward without lefting behind. Some measures such as class rankings or scholarships will have profound impacts on students as it pushed them to step out comfort zone and outperforme their peers. In terms of professional settings, it is possible for workers to compete for gaining promotion opportunities by determining and demonstrating their abilities in coping with challenges and performing tasks effectively. However, this perspectives overlook the fact that not all competition carries equal or brings healthy enviroments. Many might sterm the toxic perspectives or show jealousy which negatively affect on people's mental well-being, leading to reducing the productivity.

However, I am convinced that cooperate serves as important cataplyst in daily life. This is because it can contribute to greater social cohesion and higher productivity. For example, in study's projects, it is nescessary to collaborate since it can allow students to leverage each other's strengths and maximise mutual interest. Therefore, combining their efforts are likely to make their projects better and gain new perspectives, even broaden their horizon, leading to improving their critical and teamwork skills. These experiences might equip for their future, especially engaging in labour market as they can land a job. On top of that, collaboration might strengthen people relationship and it is possible to create a friendly environment.

In conclusion, while there are justifications for believing that it is a good thing to have a competition in daily life, I would contend that this perspetives might does more harm than good.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the discussion and state a clear preference for cooperation, particularly in the introduction and conclusion. The competition paragraph gives relevant reasons—motivation, skill development, rankings and promotion—and you also acknowledge its possible effects on well-being. The cooperation paragraph explains benefits such as combining strengths and building teamwork skills. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained: for instance, the link between project collaboration and students later being able to “land a job” is not made clear, and the conclusion mainly repeats your position instead of drawing together the comparison. Develop the consequences of each main idea more fully and make the final judgement more specific to strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph for each view, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the discussion, and the main ideas generally appear in a sensible order. At times, though, connections within paragraphs are mechanical or unclear. The shift from the drawbacks of competition to cooperation is understandable, but the sentence about students’ projects, future employment and “land a job” moves through several ideas without a clear link. Some references, such as “this perspectives,” also make it harder to identify exactly what is being referred to. Use clearer links between claims and examples, and ensure each paragraph develops one central line of reasoning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “personal growth,” “skill development,” “social cohesion,” “mutual interest” and “mental well-being.” These choices show an effort to discuss the topic beyond basic terms. However, noticeable spelling, word-form and collocation errors sometimes make the wording difficult to interpret, as in “cataplyst,” “acheive,” “outperforme,” and “support for students to try their best.” Phrases such as “held as a catalyst” and “strengthen people relationship” are also unnatural. Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than more elaborate wording: for example, say competition “can motivate people” and cooperation “can strengthen relationships.” Proofreading spelling and checking common collocations would make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “while,” “since” and “which,” and most of the argument remains understandable. However, some grammatical errors occur across the response, particularly with verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction. Examples include “This essay will first closely examined,” “it pushed them,” “combining their efforts are likely,” and “this perspectives might does.” The sentence beginning “Obviously, competition should be held…” also has an unclear grammatical structure. These errors sometimes interrupt the reader’s understanding, even though the overall meaning can usually be recovered. Review subject–verb agreement and verb patterns after modal verbs, and check each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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