Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-25

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 debate going on between the concept of competition and co-operation in different countries for the last few years. I would say that both sides have right vision and opinion because both competition and co-operation are necessary at work, at school or in daily life. It keeps your nerves strong and alert for the future competition.

First of all, we shall discuss the competition, as it provides you a sense of responsibility to push harder and to learn different things, and to improve your skillset. For example, if a student at the school does not have to compete with other students and to gain a position or to get good grades, why will he work hard. Moreover, if there is no competition at work, the employee will never work hard because there is no need for it. As, we can say the position of a manager is vaccated and there is no competiton, either everyone will fight for position or they will leave it.

On the other hand, co-operation is a moral responsibilty of every human being to cooperate with other people. For instance, a new student is feeling shy or he seems underconfident, other students and the teachers should cooperate with him. Moreover, both the cooperation and the competition are two different concepts. But nobody is giving up their position or their growth in the name of co-operation.

Therefore, i firmly believe in both cooperation and competition at a time. A healthy competition is needed for the improvement in a person, while co-operation is needed for the sake of affirmation or a reliabilty.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation and state a clear overall view: both are necessary. The examples about students working for good grades, employees seeking advancement, and welcoming a shy new student are relevant to the prompt. However, the discussion is unevenly developed. The competition paragraph gives several reasons, while cooperation is mainly presented as a moral responsibility and illustrated with one brief example. The point that people need not give up “their position or their growth” to cooperate is promising, but its connection to the wider argument is not explained. To strengthen the response, develop the benefits and possible limits of each approach, then show more explicitly how they can work together in practice.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “First of all,” “On the other hand,” and “Therefore” make the direction of the discussion easy to follow. Some connections, however, are mechanical or unclear. For example, “Moreover, both the cooperation and the competition are two different concepts” repeats the contrast without advancing the argument, and “As, we can say” does not connect smoothly to the example that follows. The opening also moves from the debate to “It keeps your nerves strong” without a clear reference for “It.” Improve progression by linking each example directly to the point it supports and using referencing that clearly identifies the idea being discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “sense of responsibility,” “skillset,” “healthy competition,” and “cooperate.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “moral responsibility” and “in the name of co-operation.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “both sides have right vision,” “provides you a sense,” and “a reliabilty.” Spelling errors such as “vaccated,” “competiton,” and “responsibilty” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural academic combinations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe competition as “motivating people to improve” rather than saying it “keeps your nerves strong.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional reasoning in “if a student … does not have to compete … why will he work hard” and a contrast introduced by “while” in the conclusion. Meaning is generally understandable, but some sentence structures and punctuation are inaccurate. The opening sentence uses “There is a debate … for the last few years,” where the tense does not fit the time expression. In “As, we can say,” the comma is misplaced and the clause is not formed naturally; “if there is no competition … the employee will never work hard because there is no need for it” also shifts between general and specific reference. Review articles, sentence boundaries, and consistent tense, and practise building complex sentences with clear, complete clauses.

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