Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-29

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)

People have different opinions about whether the competition or cooperation is more benificial at workplaces, schools , educational institutes or everyday life. The competition helps a individual to grow and it also improves the performance. While i believe that cooperation helps to grow with a group and encourage someone to work for others moreover it also promotes teamwork.

On the first hand, the competition is crucial to groom yourself. For example: in a school, students take part in different activities and do competition with their classmates which helps them to grow for their better future. In contrast, at work places the employee competite with their colleagues to get promotion. However, the competition makes you mentally stressed sometimes for sake of a goal.

On the other hand, cooperation allows you to share knowledge and solves such difficult tasks easily with the help of someone. For instance, students working on a project having multiple group members allow them to share their work load rather than to get stuck in a problem and waste time for many hours. Cooperation helps to solve the tasks more efficiently. Furthermore, the cooperation also creates clashes sometimes that is not benificial for growth.

In conclusion, I would say we should always try to cooperate with others because it is a key to success. It can create more opportunities for us to grow in a society with the collabration of other. While a healthy competiton and effective teamwork can help to develope their abilities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation and give a clear preference for cooperation in the conclusion. Relevant examples include students competing in school and employees seeking promotion, as well as group members sharing a project workload. However, the discussion is brief and several points are only asserted: for example, you mention that competition can cause stress and cooperation can create clashes without explaining when or why these effects occur. The conclusion also introduces “healthy competition” but does not clarify how it fits with your preference for cooperation. The response is 246 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum. Develop each view with a fuller explanation and a specific example, and make your position consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the overall discussion, and examples are generally placed with the relevant point. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weak, and some linking expressions are inaccurate or mechanical. “On the first hand” is not the usual expression, while “In contrast” does not clearly signal the move from school competition to workplace competition. The opening also places several ideas together without a clear transition. Use simpler, accurate links such as “Firstly,” “By contrast,” and “Moreover,” and make each paragraph develop one central point in a logical sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “performance,” “promotion,” “share knowledge,” “work load,” and “teamwork.” These choices make the main ideas understandable, and you attempt some topic-specific phrasing. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “do competition,” “grow for their better future,” and “clashes” to describe possible problems with cooperation. Spelling errors, including “benificial,” “collabration,” and “competiton,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise expressions and check spelling carefully. For example, use “compete with classmates,” “improve their future prospects,” and “disagreements may arise” to express these ideas more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “which,” “because,” and “rather than,” and the main message is usually clear. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in sentence boundaries, agreement, and verb forms. “While I believe that cooperation…” is a fragment, and “cooperation allows you to share knowledge and solves such difficult tasks” shifts awkwardly between verb patterns. In “students working on a project having multiple group members allow them,” the subject and sentence structure are difficult to follow. There are also article and plural errors, as in “a individual.” Build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, check agreement, and use a wider range of complex structures accurately.

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