Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-30

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)

It is observed that majority of people are suffering from insomnia and other mental illness. Although there has been a lot of progress seen in the awareness campaigns, people still feel depressed and stressed due to lack of sleep which is caused due to work pressure, finances and relationship burdens. From my perspective, complaints arise due to work-life balance and financial issues.

Firstly, insomnia is caused due to lack of sleep and it often occurs when an individual suffers from stress and tension. For example, individuals suffering from work stress can bring the burden home and may not be able to handle the pressure due to emotional and mental weakness, thus results in suffering from insomnia.

Moreover, it is seen that when people experience disturbance in maintaining relationships, it often lead to daily life stress. For example, when a couple is facing difficulty in having a conversation with a partner, it often lead to conflict that results in creating mental pressure.

Secondly, it is seen that lifestyle changes has lead to disturbance in sleep cycle. For instance, daily lifestyle changes has entirely changed the process of accepting the change, people now who suffers work related problem are not able to handle the pressure and as a consequence of this, they suffer bad sleep cycle.

To sum up, lack of sleep has been a constant problem and it is crucial to handle it with the great care and attention. Therefore, introduction to awareness campaigns at schools, offices and every community space.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the problems caused by lack of sleep and potential solutions. However, the development is uneven. While you identify stress and relationship issues as causes, the explanation of the actual 'problems' caused by lack of sleep is quite limited; you focus more on the causes of insomnia than the consequences of it. Furthermore, the solutions section is underdeveloped, consisting only of a sentence fragment at the end. To improve, ensure you dedicate equal space to both parts of the prompt and provide concrete, well-explained solutions rather than just mentioning awareness campaigns.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'To sum up' to organize ideas. However, the logical progression is sometimes hindered by repetitive phrasing and awkward sentence structures. Paragraphing is present, but the final paragraph is incomplete, lacking a full sentence structure to conclude the essay effectively. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the link between 'work stress' and 'insomnia' is somewhat circular. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence followed by fully developed supporting ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You rely on repetitive phrases like 'it is seen that' and 'it often lead to'. There are also some collocation errors, such as 'handle it with the great care' (should be 'handle it with great care'). While you use some relevant topic-specific vocabulary like 'insomnia' and 'work-life balance', the range is limited. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated synonyms and collocations to express your ideas with greater nuance and avoid repeating the same sentence starters.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, subject-verb agreement issues are common, such as 'it often lead to' (should be 'leads') and 'people now who suffers' (should be 'suffer'). Additionally, there are issues with article usage and sentence fragments, particularly in the conclusion where the final sentence lacks a main verb. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and ensuring every sentence has a clear subject and verb.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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