Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-27

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)

It is argued that some people believe competition at work, school and in usual life is considered to be a good thing while others argue that we should support team work instead of competing against eachother. I personally believe that both are good at their own.

On the one hand, positive competition is a good thing in every aspect of life. If we talk about school, competitions build consistancy and hard work in students. They work more hard and give their best to be at top of everything which is good thing. Similarly, competing at office can be awarding as well. For example, if employers are given a certain task with a timeline. Each employer will try to do the work as soon as possible. So such type of competitions are positive. In schools, students compete in exams to get the first position working hard day and night and being a night owl. Such type of competions are good for one's own.

In contrast, people who support the idea of cooperation believe that team work is more good than competing against eachother. This builds trust and positive impact amongst team members and they work together and are rewarded equally. While team work is good in few situations as creating a science project, building a website or applications and further more. Team work is not applicable in every aspect of life.

Having considered both perspectives, I believe that both are good in their own place. Both things matter in life and both are applicable in different asoects of life. One shall stay positive in both situations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation and state your view in the introduction and conclusion: “both are good at their own.” The examples of students working hard for exam positions and colleagues completing a timed task are relevant, while the science-project and website examples help illustrate cooperation. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The workplace example explains that employees may work quickly, but not whether this improves quality or creates drawbacks; the cooperation paragraph also lists situations without explaining why teamwork is effective in them. Your position that both approaches have a place is clear, but the final point, “One shall stay positive in both situations,” does not clarify when each approach is preferable. Develop and compare the reasons behind your view more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph supporting competition, a contrasting paragraph on cooperation, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “In contrast,” and “Having considered both perspectives” make the direction of the discussion easy to follow. Some connections are less clear or mechanical, however. The competition paragraph shifts from school to the office and back to school, so grouping the examples more deliberately would improve progression. “Similarly” introduces the office example, but the relationship to the preceding point is not fully explained. The phrase “both are good at their own” is also repeated without adding a new idea. Use clearer references and link each example explicitly to the argument it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competition,” “cooperation,” “team members,” and “timeline.” There are also some attempts at more specific expressions, such as “build trust” and “first position.” However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which makes parts of the response less precise: “competitions build consistancy,” “more good,” and “competitions are good for one's own” do not express the intended ideas naturally. Spelling errors such as “consistancy,” “competions,” and “asoects” are noticeable. Aim for accurate collocations and a wider range of terms for benefits and drawbacks, and proofread spelling. This would make your arguments clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and some longer structures, including conditional and subordinate clauses: “If we talk about school…” and “While team work is good in few situations…” The main ideas are generally understandable, but grammatical control is uneven, and errors recur in sentence construction, articles, and agreement. For example, “If employers are given a certain task with a timeline” is a sentence fragment because it has no main clause; “Each employer will try” also shifts from the plural subject to the singular. In “team work is more good than competing,” the comparison is not formed correctly. Practise building complete sentences and checking articles and subject–verb agreement. More accurate complex sentences would help you express relationships between ideas clearly.

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