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)

Some people think that Competition At work, school and daily life is a good thing whereas some argue otherwise.

People who say that competition is good are right up to some extent. They say competition leads to excellence in school assignments and tasks at someone's job. People work harder to compete each other and bring some good results in all aspects of life.

Whereas some argue that competition is not good. It rises the rivalries at work, school or in daily life. which is not a good thing. They argue that people should be more cooperative in all aspects of life. If every one is cooperative at school or work, people tend to achieve even better results. For instance, students work harder to complete their assignments if there is competition among themselves. Or if a similar tasks is given to different colleagues at work, everyone works hard to be the first one to complete the given task.

Some studies also show that cooperative environment at school or work brings far more suitable results that the competitive environment.

I believe, healthy competition is good for the development of students. It increases the efforts put in studies. People at work also put more efforts for the given tasks to compete their colleagues.

Whereas competition in daily life seems to have a negative impact sometimes. Friends and family have to be more cooperative rather than competitive.

Families in competitive environment do not flourish well. They should be more cooperative to achieve life goals and harden their relationships.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both perspectives and state a position: competition can help students and workers, while cooperation is preferable in family and social life. This gives the response a relevant basis, but the discussion is only partially developed. The benefits of competition are asserted in general terms (“People work harder”) without explaining how this leads to better outcomes, and the cooperation argument is supported mainly by a brief reference to studies, with no detail. Your own view is present, but it shifts by context and would be clearer if you explained the principle behind that distinction. Develop each side with a specific reason or example and make your overall position explicit from the introduction onward.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has recognisable sections: it introduces the debate, considers competition and cooperation, and then gives your opinion. However, the progression is not consistently clear. The paragraph beginning “Whereas some argue” moves from the disadvantages of competition to the benefits of cooperation, then gives examples that actually describe competition. “Some studies also show” is left as a separate, unsupported point, and the final paragraphs repeat earlier claims. Linking words such as “Whereas” are sometimes used as sentence openings without a clear connection to the previous idea. Group related points together, ensure each example supports the paragraph’s main claim, and use clearer transitions to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “competition,” “cooperative,” “rivalries,” and “development.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which makes some points less natural. For example, “compete each other” and “compete their colleagues” do not express the intended relationship idiomatically; “rises the rivalries” is also an awkward combination. Repeated use of “good,” “harder,” and “results” limits precision. Build a wider set of expressions for describing motivation, collaboration, and outcomes, and check how verbs combine with their objects. More precise vocabulary would make your arguments clearer and more convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt some complex structures, including conditional sentences such as “If every one is cooperative … people tend to achieve even better results,” and your meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited, and errors recur in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles, and plural forms. For example, “which is not a good thing” is separated from the preceding sentence, while “a similar tasks” has a mismatch between article and noun. “Families in competitive environment” also needs an article or plural construction. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, including the capitalised “Competition At” and the comma after “I believe.” Practise combining related ideas accurately and proofread for sentence boundaries and basic agreement.

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