Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

People often argue that competition in daily life including at office and at school is a healthy thing, whereas others suggest to no compete against each other and try to be cooperative. I strongly agree with the latter one.

Competition at school might seem reasonable, all students learning in the same class, being evaluated through a same exam and then being graded. Each student secure a position from first poisition till last position. For example, in a class if there are 15 students only one will get 1st position and the student with least marks will get 15th position. However, this is not fair, while school evaluating students only on fixed parameters such as academic results, they do not factor in other skills such as sports and arts. Additionally, not every student is same, some students might have certain challenges like different mental capacity, any psychological disorder or may be they might not have a safe or peaceful environment at home that affects their studies directly, therefore expecting students from such diverse backgrounds to compete with each other is not fair, it only creates sense of complex among the students.

Similarly, in professional life, a certain level of healthy competition could be justified. However, there is a very blur line between healthy competition and down grading the other colleagues. For example, in sales department, a set target is assigned to all the sales representatives, its expected all of them to acheive it and when any one of them puts extra efforts in over achieving that target, it would be considered as a competition, but since it has become a competition, now others will also try to over acheive it. Now the politics will be started among the team members, which will ultimately create rivarly among them. While on other hand, if they would have cooperated, they all could have achieved their targets.

In daily life, a certain level of healthy competition can be a positive thing, but at the same time, the impact of the competition on other individuals should not be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You discuss competition in school, professional life and daily life, and your position in favour of cooperation is clear in the introduction. The school example explains why ranking students can be unfair, while the workplace example shows how individual targets may create rivalry instead of shared success. These are relevant reasons, but the two views are not balanced: the benefits of competition are only briefly acknowledged, and the final paragraph does not develop them or clearly reinforce your opinion. The discussion of daily life is also limited to a general statement. To strengthen the response, explain a specific benefit of competition, then weigh it against cooperation and give a fuller example of how cooperation produces better outcomes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, moving from school to the workplace and then daily life. Paragraphs are focused on relevant settings, and signposts such as “However,” “Additionally,” and “Similarly” help show relationships between ideas. Some connections are less clear or feel mechanical, though. The final paragraph introduces daily life but does not explain it, so the essay ends abruptly rather than drawing the discussion together. Within the workplace example, the sequence from exceeding targets to “politics” and rivalry is understandable, but the link to the claim that cooperation would achieve targets is asserted rather than demonstrated. Develop the final point and use clearer references and transitions to connect examples to your main argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “evaluated,” “parameters,” “diverse backgrounds,” “professional life,” and “cooperated.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning is generally recoverable. However, several inaccurate or unnatural expressions reduce precision, such as “a very blur line,” “creates sense of complex,” “down grading the other colleagues,” and “rivalry among them.” There are also spelling errors, including “poisition,” “acheive,” and “rivalry” misspelled as “rivarly.” Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; for example, use “a blurred line,” “a sense of inferiority,” and “undermining colleagues.” This would make your vocabulary more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “whereas,” “while,” and “that,” and most of the argument remains understandable. Some grammatical errors occur in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “Each student secure a position” needs subject–verb agreement, while “all students learning in the same class” is a fragment rather than a complete sentence. In “its expected all of them to achieve it,” the structure should be “it is expected that all of them achieve it.” The long sentence beginning “For example, in a class…” also needs clearer punctuation and clause boundaries. Review complete sentence formation, agreement, and articles, and break up lengthy sentences where needed to improve accuracy without losing complexity.

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