Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

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 5.5)

In an increasingly globalized world, International sports events like FIFA or Olympics attract athletes and spectators from all over the globe. Some people believe that it is a good way to bring countries together while others argue that It creates competition and rivalry between countries. In my opinion, International sport events are a good way to bring people together from different countries sharing common interests. The advantages of these events outweigh the disadvantages.

On one hand, it creates feelings of rivalry between countries. Athletes do years of rigorous training to compete in international events to win tournament and to bring pride to their countries.They often become emotionally involved and see other competitors as rivals rather than friends. It becomes a matter of national pride for them. In addition, It creates tensions and conflicts among spectators who have a history of political or sporting differences. For instance, spectators from different backgrounds with a history of conflicts between their countries may end up fighting with each other. so, international sports events also causes competition, conflicts and tension between participants and spectators.

On the other hand, competition is one aspect of the Olympics. International events also bring people from different countries together beside their differences. Each participant is dealt with same rules and regulations creating a sense of uniformity. Athletes are made to attend conferences, dinners and events together which allows them to interact with each other outside the sports arena. Moreover, when same rules are applied to everyone it encourages them to respect each other creating a feeling of sportsmanship and unity. .

In my opinion, although International events creates tension, conflicts and competition between individuals. But by implementing strict rules, It brings people from different countries together sharing common interests and encouraging them to respect each other.

In conclusion, Internation events like Olympics and FIFA are a great source to create a sense of sportsmanship, teamwork and frienship between people odf different nations despite the differences in their cultures and backgrounds. Its advantages outweigh the disadvantages of temporray conflicts and tension.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that international sports events bring countries together and that they create competition and rivalry—while also providing a clear personal opinion. The position is maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are generally well extended and supported, such as mentioning how rigorous training and national pride fuel rivalry, whereas joint events and shared rules foster sportsmanship. However, some arguments, particularly regarding spectator conflicts, are slightly under-developed and could benefit from deeper elaboration. Overall, the task is addressed effectively, meeting the criteria for a Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation with an introduction, distinct body paragraphs exploring each viewpoint, a separate paragraph for the personal opinion, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts in argumentation, such as 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in the isolated sentence 'so, international sports events also causes competition...' and the fragment starting with 'But by implementing strict rules...' in the penultimate paragraph. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate, but the linking within sentences requires better control to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'rigorous training', 'national pride', 'uniformity', and 'sportsmanship'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation issues, as well as minor spelling errors (e.g., 'Internation events', 'frienship', 'odf'). Expressions like 'deal with same rules' instead of 'subject to the same rules' and 'brings people... beside their differences' indicate an emerging rather than fully flexible lexical range. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional-like phrasing (e.g., 'Athletes do years of rigorous training to compete...'). However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including capitalization errors (e.g., mid-sentence capitals like 'It creates tensions'), subject-verb agreement issues ('events creates', 'causes competition'), and punctuation slips such as double periods ('unity. .') and sentence fragments ('In my opinion, although International events creates tension... But by implementing strict rules...'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall argument, they restrict the grammar score to a Band 6.

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