Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-09

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)

Some section of the society consider that global sports events such as, The olympics or The football world cups, are advantageous way to bring countries together. However, others believe such events create competition and not a friendship. This essay intend to discuss both views with opinions, reasoning along with examples.

In my opinion,when global sports events such as The Olympics or The football world cup are organised. They definitely bring the countries together because players from various countries, cultural backgrounds, different languages comes together under the same roof. They eat , play, sing ,dance and enjoy several other activities together which is a great way to built a harmonious relationship between different countries. For instance, there might be political clashes or conflict between India and Pakistan. However, when there is a match between them they play with excellent zeal. On various television shows Pakistani player's shared their wonderful memories with Indian players and infact, they feel proud of it. Shoaib Akhtar had shared many such stories and experiences on public domains.

Furthermore, Another section of society believes that such sports events only creates a competition and doesnot promote a friendship. According to me, reason behind such thinking is a weak mindset of individuals who donot want to build a positive relationship between countries, rather want to spark a unnecessary controversies and hate amongst the countries. They believe worlwide sport events make the players more competitive and jealous. For example, recent football worldcup between England and Norway circulated a rumour that both countries relationships are not well because Norwegian team bought food for their players from their native country.

In conclusion, International sports events bring countries and their players together and promotes friendship.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a clear opinion that international sports events bring countries together. The India–Pakistan example supports this position, and you also explain why some people see events as competitive. However, the discussion is uneven: the first view receives more explanation, while the opposing view is mainly attributed to a “weak mindset” and a rumour about England and Norway, without showing clearly how competition can damage relations. The example is also difficult to interpret as evidence of hostility. Develop both sides more objectively, explain the link between each example and the argument, and make the conclusion reflect the discussion rather than simply repeat your opinion. The response meets the task’s length requirement; 22 words copied from the prompt were not counted.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Connectors such as “However,” “Furthermore,” and “For example” help signal the direction of the discussion. Overall, the ideas are arranged coherently, but some links are mechanical or unclear. “Furthermore, Another section” is redundant, and the shift from the claim that events create competition to the food-buying rumour does not clearly show how one leads to the other. The long first body paragraph also combines several points without a clear internal progression. Use more precise referencing and transitions, and organise each paragraph around one main claim followed by explanation and a directly relevant example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “cultural backgrounds,” “harmonious relationship,” “political clashes,” and “controversies.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond basic terms. However, the range is not consistently controlled: phrases such as “a friendship,” “excellent zeal,” “public domains,” and “spark a unnecessary controversies” are awkward or inaccurate, and spelling errors such as “worlwide” and “doesnot” reduce polish. Some expressions also sound overly judgemental, particularly “weak mindset,” rather than presenting the opposing view neutrally. Aim for natural collocations and precise wording, checking spelling and word forms. For example, describe players as competing intensely while still showing respect, rather than relying on unclear or unnatural phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “there might be political clashes” and a contrast introduced by “However.” Nevertheless, errors are frequent, and some complex sentences are faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “players … comes together” has subject–verb disagreement, while “They definitely bring the countries together because…” is followed by a sentence fragment beginning “When … are organised.” There are also problems with articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, as in “a unnecessary controversies” and the comma splice in “In my opinion,when…”. Review agreement, article use, and punctuation, and make sure dependent clauses are attached to complete sentences. Shorter, accurately controlled sentences would improve clarity while you build complexity.

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