Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27
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)
People hold conflicting views regarding whether sports games at World level bring countries together or cause competition among them. While there are valid arguments supporting it creates good realtion across the countries, I am more inclined towards the opinion that it creates rivalry between the nations.
On the one hand, there are clear reasons why people support the idea of friendship with the help of games. The main reason is that it is often seen people with common field of interest build relation fast. For instance, many countries come togther at same place to attend their favouirte game and develop friendship with each other while enjoying it.
On the other hand, I side with those who believe it creates the situation of clash. This is mainly because people connect emotions with their team and when it loses its match, they feel sadden and start hating other team. For instance, there were certain incidents recently after the Football World Cup in Austraila, where fans reportedly burned pictures of the opposing team and their supporters. Furthermore, citizens are more loyal to their motherland and can sometimes become hostile towards other countires when their team loses.
In conclusion, while there are sensible points on both sides. I believe that international competition certainly causes the batlle between countries. However, a healthy competitive approach can sometimes bring people together by creating opporunities for friendship and cultural exchange.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
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 throughout the essay. Ideas are generally relevant, such as fans connecting emotions with their teams, though some arguments are slightly under-developed. Furthermore, the length check indicates that the student's response contains 232 words, which falls short of the minimum 250-word requirement. This negative impact on task completion, combined with limited elaboration on the viewpoints, leads to a score of 5.5 for Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay demonstrates a clear overall organization with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand', which helps guide the reader through the text. However, paragraphing and referencing are sometimes mechanical, and there are awkward linking phrases, as seen in the sentence 'While there are valid arguments supporting it creates good realtion across the countries'. Progression is generally logical, but the cohesion can be faulty at times. Therefore, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'conflicting views', 'rivalry', and 'cultural exchange'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'realtion' instead of 'relation', 'togther' instead of 'together', 'favouirte' instead of 'favorite', 'sadden' instead of 'saddened', 'Austraila' instead of 'Australia', and 'batlle' instead of 'battle'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips restrict the score, though communication is not severely impeded. Overall, the lexical resource demonstrates a Band 5.5 level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While there are valid arguments supporting it creates good realtion across the countries, I am more inclined...' and 'This is mainly because people connect emotions with their team...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'supporting it creates' instead of 'supporting the idea that it creates', missing articles ('attend their favourite game', 'the situation of clash'), and a sentence fragment in the conclusion ('while there are sensible points on both sides. I believe...'). Because errors are frequent in complex structures, a band score of 5.5 is warranted.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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