Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-14
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Nowadays many people complain that they have difficulties getting enough sleep. What problems can lack of sleep cause? What can be done about lack of sleep?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
We are living in the busiest society ever lived on this planet, which significantly affects our sleep cycle. This brings a lot of drawbacks with it. In this essay I will shed some light on both, the reasons behind lack of sleep and how we are going to increase our bed time.
To begin with, there are numerous factors which leads the cause behind not getting enough sleep. Many working individuals are busy in making their career and finding a financial stability, due to this they are working overtime and unable to get enough sleep. This can be detrimental for them and their overall health. For instance, it can lead to high stress, lack of concentration, and disturb someone's well being. While a human needs enough sleep to get recovery, without proper bed time no one can be focused towards their goals and ambition.
On the other hand, we can do multiple things to achieve enough sleep. First and foremost, working individuals who complain about their sleep cycle should find the work-life balance. To find that work-life balance they should find what is affecting them to get a enough sleep, is it a workload they have to manage differently or something else. Moreover they can
Ultimately, while living in the busy world cause some problems to find enough bed time but it can
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the essay introduces the topic and attempts to address both parts of the prompt (problems and solutions), the final paragraph is incomplete, and the second body paragraph trails off mid-sentence. This prevents a full development of the arguments. The ideas presented are relevant, but the lack of completion means the task is only partially addressed. To improve, ensure you fully develop each point with supporting examples and complete your sentences and paragraphs to meet the length requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay uses some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover', which help to organize the text. However, the progression of ideas is severely hampered by the incomplete nature of the final paragraph and the unfinished sentence in the second body paragraph. Paragraphing is attempted, but the structure is not fully realized due to the abrupt ending. The logical flow is interrupted by these incomplete sections, making the overall organization feel disjointed. Improving the structure requires ensuring that each paragraph has a clear concluding thought and that the essay reaches a logical finish.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, though it lacks variety and sophistication. Phrases like 'busiest society ever lived' and 'shed some light on' are used, but there are some awkward collocations, such as 'increase our bed time' instead of 'improve our sleep quality'. The range is limited, and the vocabulary does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing. Expanding your range of synonyms for common words like 'sleep' and 'problems' will also help elevate your score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For example, 'factors which leads the cause' should be 'factors which lead to', and 'is it a workload they have to manage' is punctuated incorrectly as a question within a statement. There are also issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the clarity of the writing. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and punctuation will help improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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