Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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)

A few individuals think that ceremonies like olympics and fifa world cup are the way to bing closeness between countries, while others state that it can cause rivalary and not friendship. I beleive that it is beneficial for international relations between countries. In the following essay I will discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

On the one hand, Sports events like olympics and fifa worldcup are widely popular in the world. Each country around the globe takes part in the olympics, as there are almost every kind of games are played in it. As a result, these kind of events can be the pillar of trust between so many countries and also, it can cut the distance among them and can create peaceful environment. As a result, international relations become healthier and it can also opens business in between. It can be a bonus point as it can create more opportunities and jobs which can reduce unemployement.

On the other hand, The players feels that the other players around the globe are tgheir competitors and the urge to win gold medal for their country, makes them feel that the others are their rivals instead of friends. For instamce, during a soccer game two players slammed in to each other and after that collapse other players started to fight and the game became so brutal that the authorities have to cancel the entiore match.

In conclusdion, both the sides have theit significant values and standards but somehow I feel that sports events like this can create peaceful environment and healthy competition between countries which is essential for smooth realtions between them.

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 stating a clear personal opinion. The student's position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas tends to be slightly repetitive and lacks depth, particularly in the body paragraphs where points like 'peaceful environment' and 'international relations' are restated without much progression or detailed support. For instance, the example provided in the second body paragraph regarding a soccer game fight is somewhat anecdotal and brief. These limitations place the response comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor, where all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, but some are under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at a four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different stages of the argument. However, cohesion within sentences is sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen with the repetitive use of transitional phrases like 'As a result' twice in the second paragraph. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as 'these kind of events' (which contains a grammatical mismatch). Logical progression is present, but the repetitive linking devices and mechanical flow prevent it from achieving a higher band score. These characteristics align well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'international relations', 'competitors', and 'rivalry'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'olympics' (capitalisation issues), 'bing' instead of 'bring', 'rivalary', 'I beleive', 'unemployement', 'tgheir', 'Instamce', 'in to', 'entireo', 'Conclusdion', and 'theit'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the essay from reaching a Band 6.5 or 7.0. The lexical control is most consistent with Band 5, where a limited but minimally adequate range is demonstrated alongside noticeable spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'A few individuals think that ceremonies like olympics and fifa world cup are the way to bing closeness between countries, while others state that it can cause rivalary and not friendship.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles, subject-verb agreement, and pluralisation (e.g., 'ceremonies like olympics', 'the authorities have to cancel', 'the player feels', 'other players started'). Punctuation errors are also present, such as unnecessary commas ('The players feels that...'). Although communication is rarely completely obscured, the density of grammatical inaccuracies means error-free sentences are in the minority. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.

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

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