Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-20

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 growing contoversy about the competition. Some individuals are of the opinion that competition is necessary at school, work, and in daily life, whereas others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. As far as i am concerned, competition is essential. This essay will examine both perspectives bofore reaching a reasoned conclusion.

To begin with, there are compelling arguments in favour of competition at work,school, and in daily life. The most notable benefit is that competitions significantly enhance quality of life by providing greater opportunity, efficiency, and accessibility. This is because the wish of succeeding in every part of life enable people to connect, learn and work more effeciently in modern society that were previously impossible. For instance, according to BBC News, most of the board position holder students were competative. Moreover, such encouragements stimulate mental growth and the capacity of creative solutions.

On the other hand, some contend that cooperation is necessary, rather than competing against each other. The most notable benefit of cooperation is that we can solve all the difficult problems during study by helping each other. For example, research work could be reliable if we work in groups.Furthurmore, by coopration we can defeat any challange of life by disscussing with each other. Therefore, this side argues that cooperation is important for every aspect of life.

In conclusion, while the debate presents valid argumentgs on both sides.It appears that the advantage of competition prevail, provided they are managed easily and become succesfull in life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both views and state a clear preference for competition, so the response is relevant to the task. However, the discussion is only partial: the benefits of competition are asserted rather than clearly explained, and the example about “board position holder students” is difficult to understand or verify. The cooperation paragraph gives more concrete points—group research and discussing challenges—but these are also brief and not developed with specific reasoning. Your conclusion repeats your preference without fully weighing the two positions. The response is 241 words, below the required 250, and this limits the space available to develop your ideas. Explain each main claim and support it with a clear, relevant example to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with repeated framing such as “The most notable benefit,” and some links do not clearly show how one idea leads to the next. The sentence about competition enabling people to “connect, learn and work” is not clearly connected to the claim about quality of life. Punctuation also disrupts flow in places, particularly “both sides.It appears.” Use fewer formulaic transitions and make the relationship between each claim, explanation, and example explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “competition,” “cooperate,” “efficiency,” “mental growth,” and “creative solutions,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “compelling arguments” and “reasoned conclusion.” However, inaccurate spelling and word choice are noticeable and sometimes make phrases unclear: “contoversy,” “effeciently,” “competative,” and “disscussing” are examples. Some collocations are unnatural, including “board position holder students” and “such encouragements.” Repeated general words such as “important” and “benefit” also limit precision. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common word partnerships, then choose vocabulary that expresses the intended idea directly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “whereas” and a conditional phrase in the conclusion. The main ideas can usually be followed, but errors in sentence structure and grammatical control are frequent enough to affect clarity. For example, “the wish of succeeding … enable people” has an agreement problem and an awkward grammatical construction, while “modern society that were previously impossible” does not form a clear relationship between the clause and its subject. There are also punctuation and capitalisation issues, such as “As far as i am concerned” and the missing space after “groups.” Work on subject–verb agreement, complete clause structure, and sentence boundaries; proofreading these patterns will make your complex sentences more reliable.

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