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)

Unquestionably, every coin has two side and so are the people. Society's people are divided into two groups and therefore one group gives preference to competition at workplace, school and daily events of life while others critics are denying this notion as they believe that the coperation should be necessary instead of doing competition with every individual. This essay will discuss both views along with my suitable opinion in the further paragraphs.

Initiating with the points supporting first school of thought, the main reason behind this thought is progress and learning. To explain it, every person wants to become ahead from someone in their field such as in offices, schools and daily lives. This three fields presents their success in the terms of job promotion, awards and life learning lessons respectively. In addition, competetion is essential because changes are necessary in every sector of life and without competition changes not exist. As a result only one will stands or holds every position and thought in learning centres, jobs etc. Therefore, to produce a different thinking and talent, competition is necessary so everyone can able to achieve the opportunity to change the old trends.

On the contrasting side, many people consider a coperative envionment in their lives so they do not want to compete with others. This approach creates a friendly environment in our workplace to make relationship better. To explicate it, it reduces mental pressure for cross someone as people can works and study together and always try to support with each other. Furthermore, better relationships leads to productive results as everyone setup their minds for growing together not to compete. Consequently, a social environment build friendly society where people can live happily.

To conclude, Although success and change need competition, a friendly environment also make life better, so in my opinion, a balanced approach should be more effective to make big changes in our lives where each one could consider a positive competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the discussion and state a position in the conclusion: competition can support success and change, while cooperation improves relationships, and you favour a balanced approach. These points are relevant to the prompt. However, the views are not developed equally clearly. The competition paragraph gives examples such as promotions and awards, but the claim that competition is needed for change is asserted rather than explained. The cooperation paragraph identifies reduced pressure and better relationships, yet would benefit from a specific example showing how people achieve more together. Your opinion appears most clearly at the end; make it explicit in the introduction and explain what “positive competition” means to you. This would make the response more fully developed and consistent.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The progression from competition to cooperation is easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the contrasting side” and “To conclude” help orient the reader. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some of the clearer progression associated with a stronger performance. However, several transitions feel formulaic, including “To explain it,” “To explicate it,” and “Consequently,” and some links between claims are not fully clear. For example, the connection between competition and “only one” holding a position is difficult to follow. Use fewer stock transitions and make the relationship between each reason and its result explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary suited to an argumentative essay, including “progress,” “productive results,” “mental pressure,” and “balanced approach.” However, the usable range is limited by repeated general terms such as “people,” “life,” and “environment,” as well as noticeable spelling and word-choice errors. Examples include “critics” where “critics” does not fit the intended meaning, “coperation,” “competetion,” and “envionment.” Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “cross someone” and “setup their minds.” These choices can make the reader pause to interpret your meaning, which is consistent with this level. Build a more precise set of topic words and check spelling, word forms, and common collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “while,” “because,” and “where,” and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, control is inconsistent, especially in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “This three fields presents” has a number-agreement problem, while “without competition changes not exist” has an incorrect verb pattern. In “everyone can able to achieve,” the modal construction is faulty, and “a social environment build friendly society” lacks a correctly formed verb and article. These errors, alongside some awkwardly joined clauses, can make parts of the argument difficult to read. Practise accurate basic sentence patterns first, then add complex clauses and proofread each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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