Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-31

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 6.5)

Some people believe that competing with peers at work, at school and in other aspects of regular life can be beneficial, while others argue that having a cooperative attitude can develop human character more than competing with others. Although competing with classmates and coworkers can encourage an individual to do better than others, I agree with the former idea that helping the colleagues and friends can help a person achieve self-improvement instead of comparing with them.

A significant portion of the population say that competing with others in everyday activities can motivate a human to do better than them and become the best version of himself. When a person has a competitive mindset, he continuously pushes himself to be better than others in his work or studies. This can help him achieve better results and eventually become more successful than his peers. For instance, many students in Bangladesh compete to achieve the first position in examinations, inspiring them to study harder and ultimately learn more. However, I believe having such attitude can negatively impact an individual's mental health.

Coorperating with the people at work or at schools can improve a person's character. It can teach him to be compassionate to his peers, and can consolidate his personal relationships with them. Always comparing with others can make an individual suffer from inferiority complex. Such mentality can also make a person jealous of others' succcess, which can make his character toxic and ruin his mental peace. For example, when students study together at school and come forward to help each other understand their lessons, all of them can learn properly and this can improve their friendships as well.

In conclusion, while competition at work and at school can encourage people to do better than others, I think cooperative attitude towards the peers is more important. This can strenghthen social relations and can help find mental satisfaction with own self instead of comparing with others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You discuss both perspectives and make your preference clear: competition can motivate people, but cooperation is more valuable for personal development and wellbeing. The examples about Bangladeshi students competing in examinations and classmates helping one another are relevant and support the main points. This meets the task well, though the two sides are not developed equally: the benefits of competition are mainly described as working harder and achieving success, while the drawbacks of competition and benefits of cooperation receive more explanation. To strengthen the response further, develop the competitive viewpoint with a specific consequence or example beyond academic achievement, and explain more precisely how cooperation leads to self-improvement rather than simply better relationships or mental peace.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: the introduction presents the two views and your position, each body paragraph focuses on one side, and the conclusion restates your preference. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “For instance,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. Some connections are less precise or slightly mechanical. For example, “However” introduces a concern about competition but does not clearly show how it relates to the preceding example, and “This” in the conclusion could refer to either cooperation or the cooperative attitude. Use more explicit links between claims and examples, and make references such as “this” unambiguous. These refinements would make the progression more consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “competitive mindset,” “compassionate,” “inferiority complex,” and “mental peace.” These choices help express both the social and personal effects of competition and cooperation. There are also some inaccurate or unnatural word choices and collocations, such as “consolidate his personal relationships,” “suffer from inferiority complex,” and “find mental satisfaction with own self.” Spelling slips in “Coorperating,” “succcess,” and “strenghthen” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural combinations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe relationships as being strengthened and use a more idiomatic phrase for feeling content with oneself. This would make your vocabulary more precise and flexible.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses such as “Although competing with classmates and coworkers can encourage an individual…” and “When a person has a competitive mindset…”. Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the overall control is sufficient for the argument. Some grammatical errors remain. For example, “having such attitude” needs a determiner (“such an attitude”), and “help find mental satisfaction with own self” is missing a possessive determiner and has an awkward grammatical construction. The repeated use of “can” also limits the variety of structures. Review articles and possessives, and practise varying sentence patterns while keeping them accurate. These changes would improve control without sacrificing clarity.

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