Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that international sports events, such as The Olympics or the Football World Cup, are a good way to bring countries together. Others say that these events create competition, not friendship, between countries.

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)

It is often argued that Football World cup or The Olympics, such international sports are the best way to strength the relation between nations, whereas some people believe that this develop a sense of competition and rebellion among countries and residents. However, I firmly agree with the former viewpoint as it has numerous benefits such as cultural diversity and economic growth to the host country.

Commencing with the prominent advantage of first viewpoint which is nations grow economically and socially. In other words, when a particular nation organize any sport related event they not only invite sportspersons but also open gates for thousands of tourists from all over the world. As a result, individuals get a chance to share cultural and traditional values with individuals from different backgrounds, while authorities can benefit financially as tourists will spend money on tickets, hotels and on other leisure activities. For instance, Toronto hosted a Football world cup of this year, according to BBC news, the management of the city generated almost 40 percent more revenue than a regular year.

On the other hand, some individual have this opinion that this will cause problems in countries is because of the favoritism and loyalty towards birth country. For example, most of the games usually have players from two different nations and citizens of losing nation usually get angry and starts riots and fights with the winning nations residents. Thus, such problems can make differences between countries and harm the internal relations.

From my perspective, authorities should continue to organize such events as this generate employment at a significant number. Most importantly university students or individuals working on low wage payrates get an opportunity to secure a part-time job which helps them to maintain their basic lifestyle.

In conclusion, although international events might cause some problems, I still believe that such programs are useful for employment and to share both traditional and cultural aspects of different communities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the economic benefits are supported with a specific example, the counter-argument regarding 'competition and rebellion' is less developed and relies on a somewhat generalized claim about riots. The conclusion and the body paragraph regarding employment focus more on the benefits of hosting events rather than directly addressing the prompt's core tension between 'friendship' and 'competition'. To reach a higher band, ensure that the discussion of the negative viewpoint is as robustly supported as the positive one.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'Commencing with', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some transitions between sentences feel abrupt. For example, the link between the economic benefits and the Toronto example is clear, but the transition to the employment argument in the fourth paragraph feels slightly disconnected from the main prompt. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'cultural diversity' and 'economic growth'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing or incorrect word choices, such as 'strength the relation' (should be 'strengthen the relationship') and 'payrates' (which is non-standard). The use of 'rebellion' to describe sports rivalry is also slightly imprecise. While the range is sufficient to communicate, more precise and natural vocabulary would elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'when a particular nation organize' (subject-verb agreement), 'some individual have' (pluralization), and 'starts riots' (subject-verb agreement). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and article errors, such as 'Football World cup' (needs capitalization and articles). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching the 7.0 band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent article usage would significantly improve the accuracy.

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

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