Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-22

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 6.5)

Sports events are one of the most popular events worldwide. Masses regardless of their age and gender wait impatiently for these events to take place, and book tickets months in advance. There are differing opinions regarding the impact of it. While some argue that these events end up causing bitterness between countries, I believe these events play a positive role in bringing countries together.

The preparations of the FIFA worldcup or the Olympics start years before the actual event. The selected countries are hyped up, and the sentiments on both the sides are strong. Fans make these players their role models, and some even go to the extent of fasting for their favourite team's success. The emotions are extremely high, and hence, sometimes the losing team does not take it well, or feel that they were unjustly scored. Moreover, the fans also bet their lives on the games, and end up causing chaos, to the point of thrashing the stadium and breaking stuff, or even attacking the opponent fans in worst-case scenarios. Just what happened after the Pakistan vs Afghanistan match at the Dubai Stadium a few years ago.

However, the positive impact is far greater and more commonly experienced than the negative one. The prior year-long preparations of the events mark the beginning of a friendly cross-country collaboration. In addition, making adequate arrangements for the team, welcoming them and treating them as honorable guests and visitors of the country fosters healthy relationship between the countries. The best example of which is Pakistan vs India matches. The countries are mostly at cold war with each other, with political tensions most of the year. But, it has not affected the sports relationships even once. The players from both the countries continue to maintain their relationships, and are even seen enjoying dinners and parties together afterwards.

To conclude, there is a possibility of countries developing bitterness towards each other at the end of the international sports events, and even result in momentary fan wars. But in my opinion, the spirit of sportsmanship remains and the rapport is not affected.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a clear opinion in the introduction and conclusion: although sporting events can provoke bitterness, you believe their unifying effect is stronger. The examples of fan violence and Pakistan–India players socialising are relevant and help illustrate the contrast. This meets the task well, but the two sides are not developed equally. The negative view focuses mainly on extreme fan reactions, with less explanation of how competition between countries themselves can undermine friendship. Likewise, the claim that preparations create collaboration would benefit from a specific explanation or example. To strengthen the response further, develop each main point with a clearer cause-and-effect explanation and ensure the examples directly support the broader claims about relations between countries.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the opposing views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Transitions such as “However” and “To conclude” make the main progression easy to follow, and the contrast between negative and positive effects is clear. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. “The best example of which is Pakistan vs India matches” is an awkward link to the preceding point, while “Just what happened…” is a sentence fragment that interrupts the flow of the negative paragraph. There is also some repetition of “events” and “countries.” For stronger cohesion, integrate examples into complete sentences and use clearer references to show exactly which idea each sentence develops.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “bitterness,” “fosters healthy relationship,” “political tensions,” and “spirit of sportsmanship.” These choices help communicate the contrast between conflict and cooperation. You also attempt more expressive language, but some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or too informal for an academic essay: “bet their lives on the games” does not clearly express the intended meaning, and “breaking stuff” is conversational. “Cold war” is also not the most natural description of the countries’ relationship in this context. Spelling and presentation are generally understandable, though “worldcup” should be written as “World Cup.” Aim for precise, natural collocations and a consistently formal register, especially when describing fan behaviour and international relations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including the contrast clause “While some argue…, I believe…” and the sentence beginning “Although…” in the conclusion. Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. In “the impact of it,” the pronoun reference is awkward; “the impact of these events” would be clearer. “The losing team does not take it well, or feel” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “fosters healthy relationship” needs an article or plural form. The fragment “Just what happened after…” should be attached to a complete sentence. There are also some punctuation and sentence-boundary issues. Review agreement, articles, and complete sentence construction, while continuing to use varied sentence patterns.

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