Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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 sporting events, such as The Olympics and the Football World cup attaracts millions of people from different nations. Some people believe that these sports events encourage freindship and unity among countries, While others believe that these events possibly creates rivalry. Although, these International events can certainly encourage competition, I believe that their overal effect can be positive in bringing people and countries close together as one.

On the one hand, International sporting events inevitably involves competition between nations. Athletes are expected to perform best than their opponents, which in turn leads to intense rivalry. Supporters often passionate about their teams can also sometimes create tension.Furthermore, governments and media also emphasize more on winning medals or trophies, consequently, which can create a sense of national competition rather than cooperation.

On the other hand, major sporting events allows people from different backgrounds to interact and develop a sense of global community. Athletes live and compete with people from diverse cultural backgrounds,allowing them to build friendship and learn about one another. Similarly, spectators from different countries and backgrounds gather under one stadium and share their enthusiasm for sports. For example, in Olympics people from different political systems and cultures paticipate in the same event and show mutual respect rather than competition.

In my opinion, in sporting events competition is unavoidable, but it does not necessarily prevent friendsip between the countries. Infact, healthy competition can coexist with respect and cooperation.

In conclusion, international sports can create rivalry because their main purpose is competition. However, they can also encourage cultural exchange,mutual respect and cooperation. Therefore, I believe that certainy these events can be helpful in bringing different nations together, provided that competition remains respectful.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt. The introduction clearly outlines both views regarding international sports events fostering either friendship or rivalry, and states a distinct personal opinion that their overall effect is positive. The body paragraphs examine both sides of the issue with relevant supporting points, such as the competitive nature of athletes and the potential for cultural exchange among spectators. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed; for example, the mention of the Olympics in the third paragraph is a bit brief. Nevertheless, a clear position is maintained throughout the essay, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or solid 7.0 approach.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure. Standard cohesive devices are utilized to guide the reader, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different facets of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in the slightly awkward sentence structure in the second paragraph: 'consequently, which can create a sense of national competition'. Referencing and logical progression are generally maintained, but minor mechanical errors in transitions pull the score towards Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'cultural exchange', 'global community', and 'mutual respect'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'attaracts' instead of 'attracts', 'freindship' instead of 'friendship', 'creates rivalry' following a plural subject, and 'overal' instead of 'overall'. Additionally, phrases like 'perform best than' contain grammatical collocation errors. These lexical slips and spelling mistakes prevent the response from achieving a higher band, placing it firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing incorporates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an ability to construct subordinate clauses and conditional structures, as seen in 'provided that competition remains respectful'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('events ... involves'), incorrect comparative forms ('perform best than' instead of 'perform better than'), comma splices, and punctuation errors around transitional phrases. Despite these recurring mistakes, the meaning remains clear and communication is rarely impeded, which aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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