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)

Some individuals think that competition at work, school and life creates good outcome; however, some believe in cooperation than competition. I believe in friendly competition in life because it helps in achieving the goals.This essay will discuss both of the views with relevant example in the forthcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, some people take competions in healthly way so that it helps them achieve their end goals but some might suffer from the stress which comes along if we are not guided properly. People get encouragment from the competition and they also work hard for better results. For example, in the school a sports event can boost the confidence and physical health of the students and they will also enjoy these initiative.

However, if there are no competition in life people will get lazy and boring. People will not get any kind of motivation if there are no competitions . The pressure which comes from the exams or an interview helps us to get good outcomes. For instance, a sales company recently posted about a quiz which helps them achieve good target because the employee wanted the first prize because of that they completed their three months target in just one day. They all cooperate with each other rather than going against each other which helps them achieve this target.

To conclude, I believe that competition in life is necessary because it helps us to achieve good outcomes but they should only be taken as friendly competition as some of us might suffer from stress.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear opinion in favour of friendly competition and include relevant examples, such as the school sports event and the sales team’s target. However, the task asks you to discuss both competition and cooperation, and cooperation receives little direct explanation. The sales example mentions employees cooperating, but it mainly illustrates how they reached a target rather than explaining why cooperation is valuable more broadly. The discussion of competition is also somewhat repetitive, with motivation and achieving goals appearing several times, while the possible drawbacks are only briefly noted as stress. Develop the cooperation viewpoint with a distinct reason and example, then explain how it relates to your own position. This would make the response address all parts more fully and support its ideas more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “To begin with” and “However,” and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the general direction of your argument. However, the progression between the two views is not always clear. The second body paragraph begins, “if there are no competition,” and continues to argue for competition, so “However” does not introduce a contrasting view as expected. The sales example then shifts to cooperation without clearly connecting it to the paragraph’s main point. Some linking phrases, including “This essay will discuss” and repeated references to outcomes and goals, feel mechanical. Use each paragraph to develop one main idea and make the relationship between examples and claims explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate your main ideas, including “competition,” “cooperation,” “motivation,” “confidence,” and “stress.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “boost the confidence” and “achieve their three months target.” However, several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable: “competions,” “healthly,” and “encouragment” are misspelled, while “good outcome” and “these initiative” are imprecise or awkward. Some phrases are repeated, particularly “achieve” and “competition,” which limits flexibility. Aim to check spelling carefully and choose more natural collocations. For example, “positive results” is more idiomatic than “good outcome,” and “meet their quarterly target” is clearer than “achieve their three months target.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, using structures such as “because it helps…” and “if we are not guided properly.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur in agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries. For example, “if there are no competition” should use a plural noun, and “a sports event can boost the confidence” needs a more appropriate article pattern. In “they will also enjoy these initiative,” the demonstrative and noun do not agree. There are also punctuation problems, including the missing space after “goals.” and an unnecessary space before the full stop after “competitions.” Review subject–verb and singular–plural agreement, and proofread punctuation. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen control.

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