Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-29
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)
In the contemporary era, the importance of sports games have been increasing gradually. Many people think international sports events is one of the best approach to bring countries together while others argue that it creates competition between the countries. Here, I believe sports events may create competition just to win the game however after the game audiences and sprts team members explore the surroundings and stay like a neibours.
On the one hand, there are several reasons which may prove that Olympics and Football world cup are good way to bring two countries together. One of the primary reason is hospitality. When a country is organizing one of the sports events they may more famous for their hospitality or security for sports team or members'. Moreover, sports members reflects these positive sides over social media and gains positive reviews. Thus, with the use of social media it is proved their sports events brings two nations together.
On the other side, these sports events create competition just to win the match but it stays in the ground till the match complete. For example, in any sports, people represent different countries and prefer to win the match and bring medals in their own country. This could be a reason they perform aggresively in the match and may create a competition and stressful environment. However, after every match sports members give warm hug to each other and appreciate their competitors as well.
To conclude, although team members play aggresively during the match and may create stressful environment to achieve a higher position or medal, they appreciate each others' performances after the match and also encourage their native citizens to do the same.
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
You discuss both perspectives and give a clear personal view: competition is mainly confined to the match, while shared experiences and post-match respect can bring people closer. The examples of host-country hospitality, social-media responses, and athletes congratulating opponents are relevant. However, the discussion is uneven and some points remain general. The explanation of how hospitality actually builds relationships between countries is brief, and the opposing view is mostly described as a desire to win rather than explored in depth—for example, you could explain how national pride or intense rivalry may increase tension. Develop each main idea with a clearer cause-and-effect explanation or a specific example to make the response more fully supported.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other side,” and “To conclude” helps readers follow the discussion. The progression within paragraphs is generally understandable, but some links are mechanical or unclear. For instance, “Thus, with the use of social media it is proved their sports events brings two nations together” does not clearly connect the reviews to stronger relations between countries. The conclusion also repeats the central contrast rather than drawing the discussion together. Use referencing and transitions more precisely, and make the relationship between each example and its main point explicit.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “hospitality,” “security,” “aggressively,” “competitors,” and “performances,” so the main ideas are communicated. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “primary reason” and “stressful environment.” However, word choice and collocation are sometimes inaccurate or repetitive: “sports games,” “sports members,” and “stay like a neighbours” do not sound natural in this context. Spelling errors such as “sprts,” “neibours,” and “aggresively” also reduce accuracy. Build a more precise set of expressions for athletes, spectators, international relations, and rivalry, and check spelling and collocations during revision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “while,” “when,” and “although.” These help you express contrast and concession, and the overall meaning is usually clear. However, some errors in agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence construction remain. For example, “the importance of sports games have been increasing” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “international sports events is one of the best approach” contains agreement and number errors. In “they may more famous,” the verb pattern is incomplete. Review subject–verb agreement and article/plural use, and proofread each sentence for a complete, correctly formed verb phrase. More accurate control of these structures would make your ideas easier to read.
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.