Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-30

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 believe that it is a good thing to do competition at work, at school and in daily life. Others think that we should cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. I believe that we should cooperate with everyone at every aspect of life.

On the one hand, some people argue that competition at school, at work, and in daily life is a good thing. If students compete with each other in schools, they will try to do better than others. Competition motivates students to work harder. They spend more time studying and improving their skills. For instance, students may prepare regularly for exams to achieve higher grades and win awards. Furthermore, in an organization employees work harder to get promotion. By working hard they can increase and improve their performance. Moreover, if the employees of a company work hard, the productivity of the company climbed. In daily life, if individuals compete with each other, they become more confident. They set goals and work harder to achieve them.

On the other hand, some people believe that we should cooperate with each other, rather than competing against each other. If students start competition against each other, they will not help others. Due to this, the students who are weak in studies cannot get help from others, because every individual wants to get first in the class. For instance, if intelligent students help weaker classmates with difficult subjects, all students can improve their academic performance. Additionally, employees can share their knowledge with other to solve their problems. Some people also agree that teamwork enhance the quality of the work. People should help their neighbors and friends, it will create a strong relationship with them.

To conclude, competition is essential in some parts of life, but I believe that people should cooperate with everyone , rather than competing against each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and state your position clearly: the introduction favours cooperation, while the conclusion acknowledges that competition has a role but prioritises cooperation. Relevant support includes students preparing for exams, employees sharing knowledge, and neighbours building relationships. However, the two sides are not developed equally. The benefits of competition are mostly asserted—for example, that people become more confident—without explaining when or how this happens. The cooperation paragraph gives a clearer illustration through stronger students helping classmates, but the workplace and community points could also be explained further. Develop each main claim with a specific consequence or example, and make your final position consistent with the introduction by clarifying where competition is useful and why cooperation should generally take priority.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” make the progression easy to follow. However, the repeated use of “Moreover,” “Additionally,” and “For instance” can make the links feel mechanical, and several ideas are placed next to one another without showing their relationship. For example, the move from employees sharing knowledge to teamwork improving work quality would benefit from an explicit explanation of cause and effect. There is also a punctuation issue in “People should help their neighbors and friends, it will create…”; these are two independent clauses. Use a full stop or a suitable conjunction, and vary linking methods while making connections between ideas clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to discuss education, employment, and cooperation, including “productivity,” “performance,” “teamwork,” and “academic performance.” The meaning is generally clear, but several phrases are repetitive or imprecise, which limits flexibility and naturalness. For example, “do competition” is not a natural collocation, “get first in the class” is awkward, and “the productivity of the company climbed” uses an unsuitable verb for this context. “Help others” and “work hard” also recur without much variation. Aim for more precise collocations and a wider range of expressions for the effects of competition and cooperation. Check word forms and number in phrases such as “share their knowledge with other,” so the vocabulary is accurate as well as relevant.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including conditional sentences such as “If students compete with each other… they will try to do better” and clauses introduced by “because.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, but some errors in agreement, tense, articles, and sentence boundaries remain. For example, “teamwork enhance” needs a singular verb, while “the productivity of the company climbed” shifts into an inappropriate past-tense form within a general explanation. In “employees can share their knowledge with other,” the plural reference needs a grammatically complete form. The sentence “People should help their neighbors and friends, it will create…” is a comma splice. Review subject–verb agreement and keep general claims in the present tense; practise joining clauses accurately with conjunctions or full stops.

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