Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-04
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)
Organizing international sports events such as The olympics or Soccer World Cup are effective method to unite countries argued by some people. Others believe that these events create high level competition and affect relations of countries. However, in my opinion, this kind of events bring different countries people together and help the economy of the countries.
To begin with, according to several people, discussing sports event is popular among human beings which help them to create a relationship with others and even create a comfortable environment with unknown people. Various countries unite together to support their favourite team which build hidden bond between them. For instance, in the Fifa World Cup people from different countires support their favourite team, which means various nations people comes together to support one team. Not only that but it also generate revenue for all countries who particiapte in the events and host nations earns millions from these events. Canada hosted Fifa World Cup this year and generated millions through this event.
On the other hand, some individuals argued that the competition of these event build rivalry and affects the realtion of nations. The biggest example of this is India and Pakistan. The famous cricket rivalry created a conflicts in both countries official relations which arises different problems around both countries.
However, I do not agree that this is the only way that affects friendship of two nations.
In conclusion, although, organizing these events may create a healthy competition and rivalry, the advantages of revenue and relation of people overweigh the disadvantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views on international sports events and providing a personal opinion, which places it in the territory of addressing all parts of the task. However, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains 249 words, falling one word short of the 250-word minimum (with 8 words copied from the prompt left uncounted). Ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly when discussing the economic benefits and the rivalry between India and Pakistan, where explanations remain brief and lack sufficient supporting evidence. The position is stated, but the overall development lacks the depth required for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some basic organisation with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing an attempt at logical arrangement. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas throughout the text. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on transitional phrases like 'To begin with' and 'On the other hand'. Paragraphing is used, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs lacks seamless transitions, resulting in sentences that feel somewhat disjointed.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, featuring common terms such as 'international sports events', 'revenue', and 'rivalry'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations that reflect a limited range, such as 'organizing international sports events... are effective method' (agreement error affecting word choice), 'discussing sports event is popular among human beings', and 'affects the realtion of nations'. While communication is generally maintained, these errors in word choice and word form prevent the response from achieving a more precise and flexible range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty. There are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'Organizing international sports events... are effective method', article omissions ('the Olympics', 'the FIFA World Cup'), and incorrect prepositions or pluralisation, such as 'various nations people comes together'. These frequent errors require the reader to occasionally pause, placing the control of grammar at a level where errors cause some difficulty without entirely obscuring meaning.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.