Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-30

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 this modern world, sports play an important role to bring people together. Many people believe that there are some events like The Olympics and the Football World Cup, it helps nations to participate and build cooperation among them. Whereas some say that these kind of events only create a sense of competition instead of bringing them together. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss both viewpoints and give my own opinion.

On the one hand, it is believed that when international sports events are organised, many nations get a chance to join such events and show there real potential to the world. Apart from that, players who participate in these events, meet with their competitor from all over the world. Therefore, they can interact with them and learn alot of things. Moreover, by playing in the World Cup events, it develops overall relations of all the nations and helps them to perform on international level to show true talent of countries.

On the other hand, as every coin has two sides it has their own. There is a group of people who critize the idea of internatinal sports events. They think that these kind of events only create a sense of competition among nations. Not only this but people also believe that these sports events are considered bad when a nation has defeated to other, eventually it proves that the winner is appreciated and loser is embarrassed at the end. Therefore, players of the team which lost has a feeling of revenge from country that won in the game.

In conclusion, although internationals events bring countries together, it also creates a feeling of superiority among nations. In my opinion, there events are integral part of world so we should support it but at the same time everyone takes it as ground that brings people together rather than hurting someone's feeling.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a personal position: the first body paragraph presents opportunities for interaction and cooperation, while the second explains how defeat may cause embarrassment and resentment. Your conclusion also states that these events can unite countries but create superiority. However, the discussion is only partly developed. For example, the claim that players “learn alot of things” and that events “develop overall relations” is broad; explain what they learn or how sporting contact improves relations. The opposing view would also be stronger with a specific example or a clearer explanation of how competition between teams affects relations between countries. Your opinion is present, but “we should support it” could be justified more directly. Develop and support these ideas to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the discussion. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. In the first body paragraph, “Apart from that,” “Therefore,” and “Moreover” introduce points without showing precisely how they relate, and the sentence beginning “Moreover, by playing…” has an unclear subject. The reference in “it has their own” is also difficult to follow. Improve cohesion by linking each example explicitly to the paragraph’s main claim and using pronouns only when their reference is clear. The paragraphing is appropriate, but progression within paragraphs needs more control.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “cooperation,” “competitor,” “sense of competition,” “superiority,” and “embarrassed,” which allows you to discuss both sides of the issue. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “international level” and “integral part.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive: “show there real potential,” “develops overall relations,” and “takes it as ground” do not express the intended meanings naturally. Spelling errors such as “critize,” “internatinal,” and “alot” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, natural combinations—for example, “demonstrate their abilities,” “strengthen diplomatic ties,” and “a platform for bringing people together”—and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “although” and a conditional structure with “when.” Meaning is generally understandable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement occur across the response. For example, “Many people believe that there are some events…, it helps nations” joins clauses incorrectly and shifts from plural “events” to singular “it.” In “players who participate…, meet with their competitor,” the subject–verb relationship and number are not controlled consistently. The final sentence, “everyone takes it as ground that brings…,” is also structurally unclear. Practise building complete clauses and checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and singular/plural forms. More accurate complex sentences would make your reasoning easier to follow.

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.