Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 are a good way to bring different countries together. Some say, these events can bring both friendship and rivalry between countires. I would like to discuss more into this topic. I would like to elaborate that both the scenarios and understand what would be the best approach.First, let us look into how sporting events can be a biggest source of inspiration of sportsmanship. For example, in the recent times, during the FIFA world cup match, Iran participated in the FIFA world cup series hosted by the USA, inspite of political wars between Iran and USA. This is a great example how sports bring countries together. International sports events bring friendship between countries and sometimes even can improve the relationship and economies of the respecting countries. On the other hand, sometimes these events create a competion or rivalry between countries. For example, during a cricket series between India and Australia, there was racism involved and that competition lead to an ugly sporting event rather than being a productive event.There are events where an individual player has been targeting for their appearances and mannerisms. Therefore, these sporting events bring a bitter experience to both the players and the audiences of different countries.However, the regulatory sports bodies always takes proper actions on the offending players and also ensures that the virtue of sportsmanship is always preserved and protected. In my opinion, International sports events can serve as a very good medium of friendship rather than a competition. I believe sports should be enjoyed as it is. There are a far more messages that can be learned from sporting events. According to me ,these matches bring people of different countries together, also helps to appreciate the hardwok that goes into organization of these matches and can also be a great source of inspiration to take up sports as an profession.To conclude, sports must always be enjoyed with a true sportsmanship spirit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the question and gives a clear overall preference: international sport is presented as more likely to foster friendship than rivalry. The Iran–USA example supports the unifying view, while the India–Australia example illustrates how racism can make competition unpleasant. However, the discussion is not fully developed: the examples are asserted rather than explained in detail, and the claim that events can improve countries’ economies is not connected clearly to the question of friendship. The writer could explain more precisely how shared participation builds relationships and why rivalry sometimes overwhelms that effect. A more consistently developed argument would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation: the response moves from the positive view to the negative view, then gives an opinion and a conclusion. Transitions such as “On the other hand” and “In my opinion” help signal these stages. However, the progression is not consistently clear, and several ideas are crowded together without paragraph breaks. The opening repeats the intention to discuss the topic, while “First, let us look into” and “To conclude” create a somewhat formulaic sequence rather than developing links between points. Some connections are also unclear, particularly the shift from sporting rivalry to regulatory bodies’ actions. Use distinct paragraphs for each view and the conclusion, and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant topic vocabulary, including “sportsmanship,” “rivalry,” “offending players,” and “audiences,” and the meaning is generally understandable. It also attempts some less common expressions, but several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “a biggest source of inspiration,” “the respecting countries,” and “a bitter experience” do not fit smoothly in context. There are also spelling errors such as “countires,” “competion,” and “hardwok.” Repeated use of “bring” and “events” makes the vocabulary less flexible. Aim for accurate collocations and vary key terms—for example, describe events as “fostering goodwill” or “intensifying national rivalry”—and proofread spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “For example” and “Therefore,” and the main ideas can usually be followed. However, errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and punctuation are noticeable. Examples include “Some say, these events,” where the comma interrupts the clause, “a biggest source,” and “the regulatory sports bodies always takes,” which has a subject–verb agreement problem. The sentence beginning “There are a far more messages” also has an incorrect article and number pattern, and several sentences run together without appropriate spacing or punctuation. Review agreement and article use, and divide long sentences into complete, clearly punctuated units.

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