Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion?
Sample Response
There is an ongoing debate overabout whether competition or cooperation yields better outcomes in academic, professional, and personal settings. While some argue that collaboration promotes developmentcollaboration fosters growth, others believe that competition drives excellence. This essay will discuss both perspectives, but I assert that competition produces greater benefitscompetition brings more positive results.
On the one hand, advocates of cooperationthose who favour cooperation highlight its role in promoting teamwork and shared success. Collaboration enables individuals to shareexchange ideas and support one another, fostering creativity and collective problem-solving. For example, study groups often help students understand complex concepts through discussion and mutual assistance. In professional settings, collaborative projects draw on diverse skillscooperative projects leverage diverse skills to achieve superior outcomes, as seen in successful technologytech companies where cross-functional teams drive innovation. Cooperation nurtures interpersonal skills, teaching individuals to resolve conflicts and work harmoniously towards common goals.
On the other hand, competition is a powerful motivator that encourages individuals to perform at their bestreach their full potential. In schools, competitive environments push students to excel, knowing that top performers can earn recognition and rewardsrecognition and rewards await top performers. For instance, academic competitions such as Olympiads drive students to sharpen their skills and broaden their knowledge. Similarly, in the workplace, competition inspires employees to improve productivity and performanceimprove their productivity and performance, knowing that promotions and bonuses are awarded based on merit. Furthermore, competitive experiences teach resilience and the ability to handle pressure, which are essential life skills for both personal and professional growth.
In conclusion, while cooperation promotes teamworknurtures teamwork and collaboration, competition serves as a catalyst for personal and professional development. The drive to outperform others often leads to significantgroundbreaking achievements and self-improvement. Therefore, I believe that competition, with its ability to inspire excellence and perseverance, is a more powerful force for progress.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response’s strongest feature is its balanced, logically developed treatment of cooperation and competition, with clear examples from education and employment and a consistent personal position. Its main limitation is that some claims about competition’s benefits are broad and the daily-life dimension receives little direct attention. The highest-priority improvement is to qualify the comparison and explain when competition produces better outcomes than cooperation in a specific everyday context.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay discusses both views fully, sustains a clear preference, and supports its ideas with relevant examples.
Address daily life more explicitly and qualify the claim that competition generally produces superior results.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is sequenced coherently, with focused body paragraphs and clear progression within each argument.
Create a sharper logical bridge between the benefits described and the final comparative judgment in favour of competition.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, precise, and well suited to discussing motivation, teamwork, achievement, and personal development.
Replace a few broad promotional phrases such as powerful force for progress with more measured, context-specific wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response demonstrates flexible control of complex clauses and consistently accurate sentence construction.
Maintain this accuracy while varying participial and subordinate-clause patterns to make the prose still less formulaic.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.