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)

Many people assume that competition is at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that people should to be more cooperative instead of competing against each other. In my opinion, competition provide constant focus and consistent growth in student's life. However, sometimes competing with others may have some issues such as, insecurity and rude behaviour etc.

In many countries people believe that motivating their children to compete academically, socially and also at work places display a positive impacts on their student's performance. Parents think if children follow these habits they will get succeed in their life's. In addition to this, children's believe that if they focus on their studies and also at work places if they perform their tasks with intelligence and attention they can compete with anyone in their field, and also their generate self-confidence by accepting chanllenges.

Some people may disagree to promote competition and challenges in schools or in work places.One of the major reason about this is that, sometimes people get angry and changes in their behaviours will disappoint others and may lead to fights and debates.To avoid this tensions and maintain consistency in their work is beneficial for them in manyways.Other major issue is that children and employees feel insecured, if they follow this type of environment in schools or at work.

In conclusion, promoting competiton at school or at work will definitely lead to some unexpected causes sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. Consequently, maintaining consistency in their work will direct people to achieve success in their life. Finally, helping nature is more important in the society than competing with others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a personal position: competition is presented as supporting focus and growth, while cooperation is ultimately described as more important. The examples about children’s academic performance, confidence, and workplace behaviour are relevant. However, the discussion is only partly developed. The benefits of competition are explained more clearly than the case for cooperation, which appears mainly in the final sentence; the disadvantages of competition are also listed without showing their effects in detail. Your position shifts somewhat between supporting competition in the introduction and favouring helping others in the conclusion. Develop the cooperative view in its own paragraph and make your overall judgement consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphing generally helps distinguish the benefits and drawbacks of competition, and linking expressions such as “In addition to this” and “In conclusion” show an attempt to guide the reader. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the second paragraph moves from parents’ beliefs to children’s performance and confidence without a clear sequence, while the third combines anger, conflict, consistency and insecurity. Some connections are mechanical or imprecise, and the conclusion introduces cooperation without having developed it earlier. Organise each paragraph around one main point, then explain and illustrate it; use clearer references so readers can follow how each idea relates to the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “competition,” “cooperative,” “self-confidence,” “challenges” and “insecurity.” These choices show an attempt to discuss both personal development and possible social costs. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. Examples include “display a positive impacts,” “get succeed,” “insecured” and “unexpected causes.” Spelling errors such as “chanllenges” and “competiton” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise academic phrasing and check word forms and spelling. For instance, describe competition as having “positive effects” and say that people “succeed” or “feel insecure,” rather than using the forms in the draft.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if children follow these habits” and clauses explaining possible outcomes. However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “competition provide” has subject–verb disagreement, “people should to be” uses an incorrect verb pattern, and “children's believe” has an incorrect subject form. The sentence beginning “Parents think if children…” also needs clearer clause structure and punctuation. Practise accurate agreement, verb patterns and sentence boundaries, especially when combining several ideas. Shorter, well-controlled sentences would make your reasoning clearer while you build confidence with complex forms.

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