Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-02

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 individuals believe that competition at different stages in daily life such as work and school is a great thing, while others prefer cooperation to competition.I partially agree with both views because they have their own several benefits.

On the one hand, a group of people often consider that competition with each other is a good thing because people can do much more better if they are in a competition and if they don't have any competitor, most probably they won't put their 100% effort in that particular thing.Additionally, a student can compete with other students in the form of having excellent grades in the examination.This will help them to get their full attention in getting good grades in the examination. Additionally,Parents can take part in organising a competition among their kids if they do better and their parents can give them gifts .Competition helps the individuals to perform well in the exercise just like pushups, pull-ups and so on.In sports, competition really helps the players to perform much more better than otherthe team members.

On the other hand, another group of people believe that it's not a good thing to compete with each other and instead of competition with others,they must be helpful with each other.It also has several benefits just like , people won't be jealous with each other if someone performs better than others.Furthermore, this idea is fruitful among the students too and it will help them not to be anxious and stressful about their studies if they couldn't perform well in the examination. This view also serves to prevent conflicts among people because then they would be helpful for each other and it will help them to have a happy and healthy environment.

In conculsion, some people believe that competing with each other is good, while others consider that cooperation is better than competing.In my opinion, I support both views because they have their own several advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both competition and cooperation, and your position—that you see benefits in both—is stated in the introduction and conclusion. Relevant examples include students aiming for better examination results and cooperation reducing stress or conflict. However, the discussion is only partly developed: several points are asserted rather than explained, and the examples about parents organising competitions and sports performance are not clearly connected to the wider argument. Your opinion also remains broad; you do not explain when competition is useful and when cooperation should take priority. Develop each main idea with a clearer explanation and a specific example, and make your final position more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the discussion. Within paragraphs, however, ideas sometimes feel like a list, particularly the sequence of examples about grades, parents, exercise, and sports. Repeated use of “Additionally” and “it will help” also makes linking somewhat mechanical, while some references such as “this idea” could be more specific. Group related examples and use a wider range of linking and referencing expressions to show how each point supports the paragraph’s main idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “competition,” “cooperation,” “anxious,” and “conflicts.” However, the range is limited by repeated general words and phrases, especially “good thing,” “help,” and “several benefits.” Some choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “get their full attention in getting good grades” and “fruitful among the students,” which make parts of the argument less natural. There are also spelling and spacing slips, including “conculsion” and “otherthe.” Aim for more precise vocabulary for outcomes and relationships, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if they don't have any competitor” and clauses explaining the effects of cooperation. The main meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems remain. For example, “people can do much more better” uses an incorrect comparative form, and “a group of people … consider” has a subject–verb agreement error. Several sentences are joined or punctuated awkwardly, as in “competition to competition.I partially agree” and “others,they must be helpful.” Work on agreement, comparative forms, articles and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas easier to read.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.