Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-28

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 5.0)

I believe the competition at work, school and daily life is actually good. It keeps your morale higher as when you are competing with your oponants its gives you a push towards your goal.

But there is a misconception that only competition is the way to get ahead towrads your goal. If you only see people as ypur competitors than your growth stops because it gives you enveous feelings or negative energy to build up and betray them. These feeling can never make the person grow positively. However, Cooperation is the key to build network which can lead you towards success as i believe if your think of growing alone you cannot prosper but if your work in team it is the only way to build on you dream.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You give a clear personal view that competition can motivate people, and you also recognise that cooperation helps people succeed. However, the task asks you to discuss both views, and the response only briefly mentions each: the point that competition “gives you a push towards your goal” is not supported with a specific reason or example, while cooperation is asserted to be “the only way” without explaining how it works in practice. The discussion is therefore minimal and the ideas remain under-developed. The response is also 121 words below the required minimum, leaving too little space to address the question fully. Develop each side with a reason and a relevant example, then explain how these views inform your opinion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable progression: it first supports competition, then introduces a limitation, and finally argues for cooperation. Linking expressions such as “But,” “If,” and “However” help signal these shifts. This gives the reader a basic route through your ideas. However, the response is presented as one paragraph, and the relationship between competition and cooperation could be made clearer; the final sentence moves quickly from individual growth to teamwork. Some connections are also awkward, such as “as when you are competing,” which makes the opening reasoning harder to follow. Use separate paragraphs for the two views and your opinion, and make each paragraph develop one main point in a clear sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “morale,” “competitors,” “cooperation,” “network,” and “prosper.” These choices show an attempt to discuss motivation and working together rather than relying only on very basic terms. However, the range is limited, and several spelling errors—“oponants,” “towrads,” “ypur,” and “enveous”—make the writing less clear and polished. Some phrases are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “negative energy to build up” and “build on you dream.” Aim for accurate spelling and more natural collocations, for example, “build professional relationships” or “work towards a shared goal.” A wider set of precise terms would help you explain the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “If you only see people as your competitors…” and a contrast introduced by “However.” These attempts help express relationships between ideas. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “as when you are competing with your opponents its gives you a push” has an unclear clause structure and incorrect subject–verb agreement; “if your think” also has an incorrect subject form. The final sentence combines several clauses without clear control, and capitalisation is inconsistent (“Cooperation,” “i”). Practise building shorter, complete sentences first, then connect them with accurate subordinate clauses and check agreement and punctuation.

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