Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-26

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 7.0)

Some people believe that competition at work, at school or in general everyday life is beneficial for growth whereas other believe cooperation is the key. From my perspective, cooperation between colleagues is the best and most pragmatic approach to solve a problem and to grow as an individual and a team.

Healthy competition between students or colleagues encourages an individual to work harder and up skill themselves. Furthermore, having a clear goal in mind or a rival can motivate them to challenge themselves rather than becoming complacent. For example, students work hard towards getting an scholarship or to get admission into a competitive college or employees working to get a promotion. Moreover, being competitive forces oneself to stay updated in their respective domain which instills the qualities of adaptability and analytical thinking. However, healthy competition is a hypothetical environment to work in and hardly exists whether in academics or in corporate world.

On the other hand, being cooperative towards your colleagues and having an open mind provides an opportunity to grow together and yield better results. This includes sharing knowledge and helping each other in learning new skills so that the all members can have equal opportunities to grow. For example, students can help each in solving questions they find tough or one employee teaching another how to build an interactive dashboard. These situations help an individual develop a sense of teamwork and helps in mutual growth.

Personally, I believe that cooperation provides much more opportunities to grow than an environment of competition can. Sharing knowledge and putting our heads together to breakdown and solve a problem can yield far better results than a single well-qualified person can. However, challenging one's own limits is necessary as well which encourages us to work harder and be better than we were the day before.

In conclusion, while competition can motivate people to work harder and improve their skills, cooperation enables them to share knowledge and achieve better results together. I therefore believe that cooperation should take priority, alongside a willingness to challenge oneself and improve.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both perspectives and maintains a clear position: cooperation is presented as more beneficial, while competition can motivate people to improve. The discussion is supported with relevant examples, including students seeking scholarships and colleagues sharing dashboard skills, and the conclusion reinforces the main view. The explanation of competition’s benefits is reasonably extended, but the claim that healthy competition is “a hypothetical environment” is broad and would be more convincing with a specific reason or example. The cooperation argument could also explain more fully how shared effort produces better outcomes. Developing these points with more precise reasoning would make the response more consistently thorough.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: the introduction states the issue and position, separate body paragraphs discuss competition and cooperation, and the conclusion summarises the comparison. Linking phrases such as “Furthermore,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader, and examples are placed within the relevant arguments. The organisation is effective, though some connections could be more precise. For instance, “However” introduces the claim that healthy competition is rare, but the contrast with the preceding benefits could be explained more explicitly. There is also some repetition of “grow” and “cooperation.” More varied referencing and clearer links between claims and explanations would make cohesion more flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The response uses a suitable range of vocabulary for the topic, including “complacent,” “adaptability,” “analytical thinking,” and “mutual growth.” These choices help express ideas about motivation and collaboration, and the meaning remains clear throughout. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “up skill themselves,” “an hypothetical environment,” and “breakdown and solve a problem.” Phrases such as “in general everyday life” are also redundant, while “the all members” is not a natural expression. The vocabulary is adequate and sometimes ambitious, but greater control of word forms and natural collocations would add precision and fluency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The essay includes a mix of simple and complex structures, such as the opening contrast with “whereas” and the sentence beginning “Sharing knowledge and putting our heads together…”. Most ideas are understandable, and the writer uses subordinate clauses and examples to develop points. Some grammatical errors remain, including “other believe” instead of “others believe,” “an scholarship” instead of “a scholarship,” and “helps in mutual growth,” where the subject–verb agreement is inconsistent with the plural subject “situations.” The sentence “This includes sharing knowledge…” also leads to “the all members,” which disrupts the grammatical construction. Checking agreement, articles, and sentence patterns would improve accuracy while preserving the range already attempted.

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