Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17
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)
International sports events such as the Olympics or the football World Cup often criticized whether they create competition or build strong ties among Countries. In my view, definitely there is a competition but these events bring closeness among players as well as audience. In this essay I will discuss how people get friends and why they are criticized for Competition.
At the time of sports events at an international level, players as well as audiences become friends. This is particularly true that there is always competition among Countries but often it is ended in friendship by sharing profile on social accounts. During the end of competition, players demonstrate respect towards each other by shaking hands to show that at the end everyone is a winner. In addition to this, there is an exchange of skills, strengths and weaknesses to learn for future references. Therefore, true friendships often get eliminated the boundaries of different culture at an international sports event.
On the other hand, some events brought hate during the competition and often result in tension between countries. This is because everyone parties participate in order to win and show opposing countries as a loser through international media when they announce the winner. By doing this, they spread hate between each other and this sometimes often it impact on their international businesses. For example, India and Pakistan show show their true intentions after the game and, upload hateful comments on social media accounts about the Competition.
To conclude, it is true some people consider playing internationally create closeness among countries, but others think that these events are only exist for competitions. According to me, these events are not only organized to compete each other but also bring closenss to build strong ties.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—that international sports events build ties and that they create competition and hatred—and provides a clear personal opinion. The student's ideas are generally relevant, but some points are slightly under-developed or contain sweeping generalizations, such as the claim that players share profiles on social accounts or that businesses are impacted in specific ways. While the position is clear throughout, the support could be extended with more precise examples. Overall, the task is adequately fulfilled, meeting the criteria for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty and mechanical, such as the transition 'During the end of competition' or 'this sometimes often it impact'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, as seen in the phrase 'everyone parties participate'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas, but logical progression within paragraphs could be smoother. This level of cohesion aligns with Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'demonstrate respect', 'exchange of skills', and 'international media'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, awkward word choices, and repetition throughout the text, including 'everyone parties', 'show show', and 'closenss'. Spelling errors such as 'Countries' (capitalised mid-sentence) and 'closenss' occur. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas despite inaccuracies, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors that occasionally impede understanding, such as 'International sports events such as the Olympics or the football World Cup often criticized whether they...' (missing passive auxiliary and preposition), 'true friendships often get eliminated the boundaries', and 'these events are only exist'. While meaning is generally retrievable, the density of grammatical errors keeps this performance at a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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