Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

People hold different opinions about whether the competitive environment at school, work and in daily life in general is a good thing or not. While some argue that competition is very effective, others believe that a cooperative environment is the most effective, rather than competition. This essay will discuss both perspectives before explaining why I believe that cooperating with each other is more beneficial.

On the one hand, supporters of competition at work, at school and in daily life contend that it increase efficiency of the individual working. This is because individuals have to be better than others, so they become more focused at their work and assignments, which leads to increase in their efficiency at what they are doing. For example, a person is working at the company and he has to submit an assignment, so he should be more focused while preparing that assignments, so that his assignment can become better than what others are submitting.

On the other hand, proponents of cooperative environment at work, at school and in daily life contends that it is vital for social stability and helps in team-working abilities. The main justification is that interacting with peers face-to-face build crucial communication and problem solving skills, which mean social environment will be stable and teams will be working together, which in turn leads to increase in efficiency as well. A good illustration of this is group projects, where individuals must learn to cooperate and share responsibilities to achieve a common goal. Nevertheless, cooperative environment can sometime lead to under-developing of individual capabilities.

In conclusion, while competition at work, at school and in daily life has its own merits, I firmly believe that work environment and school even in daily life cooperating with others is more important because it helps in developing vital social skills without compromising the work.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the discussion and gives a clear opinion in the introduction and conclusion: cooperation is presented as more beneficial. The competition paragraph explains how trying to outperform others may increase focus and efficiency, while the cooperation paragraph identifies social stability, communication and problem-solving as benefits. These are relevant points, but they are not developed equally: the competition example is hypothetical and repeats the idea of completing an assignment better than others, while the cooperation example is more concrete. The concession that cooperation may under-develop individual capabilities is introduced but not explained. To strengthen the response, develop this drawback and explain more precisely why cooperation outweighs competition in the settings named.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the progression easy to follow. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and the repeated phrase “at work, at school and in daily life” makes the paragraphs feel formulaic. Some links between ideas are also unclear: the sentence connecting face-to-face interaction, social stability, teamwork and efficiency contains several claims without showing their relationships precisely. The final sentence is difficult to follow because it combines the settings and the opinion awkwardly. Use clearer referencing and more varied transitions, and make each paragraph’s reasoning progress step by step.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a relevant range of vocabulary, including “supporters,” “proponents,” “social stability,” “communication,” and “problem solving,” which helps discuss both perspectives. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “increase efficiency of the individual working,” “under-developing of individual capabilities,” and “cooperative environment … contends.” Repetition of “environment,” “efficiency,” and the list of settings also limits flexibility. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the main argument, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Aim for more idiomatic combinations and accurate word forms—for example, describe how competition “improves individual efficiency” and how cooperation may “hinder the development of individual abilities.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses introduced by “While,” “because,” and “where.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some agreement, verb-form and sentence-construction errors persist. For example, “it increase efficiency” should be “it increases efficiency,” and “interacting with peers … build” should be “builds.” In “proponents … contends,” the plural subject also requires “contend.” The long sentence beginning “The main justification is that” contains several clauses joined in a way that makes the relationships hard to track. The conclusion’s construction, “work environment and school even in daily life cooperating,” is also grammatically unclear. Check subject–verb agreement and simplify sentences when several ideas are being connected.

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