Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-01

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 7.0)

Sleep is one of the crucial things to achieve physical and mental well-being. However sleep deprivation is one of the top most emerging health related problems. A combination depression and mood fluctuations is caused by lack of sleep and it can be tackled easily with work-life balance and some exercises.

Initially, reduced sleep promotes stress and anxiety. To explain, less sleep does not allow brain to rest properly and the levels of cortisol 'the stress hormone' remain high, which is responsible for mental health. Thus, People can easily go into depression which in turn negatively affects concentration and has devastating impacts on mental well-being. Furthermore, the moods swings occur because of this. The control of one's behavior depends on the function of the brain but when it is going through a lack of rest, the mood can quickly fluctuate resulting in rudeness or sorrow. Consequently, concentration and motivation to work disappears over time.

To get enough sleep, one needs to work on work-life balance because taking rest is as significant as work. Some time should be separated to spend on leisure activities daily or on the weekends, that will let the stress go out and brain will feel quiet and relaxed. In addition, reading can help promote deep sleep. For instance, a recent survey conducted in the UK revealed the people who read a book before bed, fall sleep quickly and the quality is much better than that of those who do not read anything. Hence, reading calms the nervous system and promotes deep sleep.

To conclude, although, less sleep brings a lot of anxiety and mood swings, which eventually destroy the mental peace and motivation to work, the issue can be solved with care. A proper amount of leisure activities and other habits like reading can help overcome it without trouble.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the consequences of sleep deprivation and potential solutions. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed. For instance, the explanation regarding cortisol levels and its impact on mental health shows a good grasp of the topic. However, the development of the solutions could be more nuanced; while work-life balance is mentioned, it remains somewhat general. The position is clear throughout, and the essay maintains a consistent focus on the prompt. To reach a higher band, ensure that the link between the problems and the solutions is more explicitly connected to provide a more cohesive argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the problems from the solutions. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', and 'In addition' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the phrase 'that will let the stress go out', which is slightly awkward. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the structure supports the reader's understanding of the points being made.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate and appropriate for the task. You have used some topic-specific terms like 'cortisol', 'well-being', and 'nervous system' effectively. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'top most emerging' (which is redundant) and 'the moods swings occur' (should be 'mood swings'). While you attempt to use a range of vocabulary, some phrasing is slightly unnatural, such as 'let the stress go out'. Expanding your range to include more precise collocations would help elevate the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('the brain', 'the mood swings') and minor punctuation issues, including the unnecessary use of quotation marks around 'the stress hormone'. Additionally, there is a minor error in the conclusion: 'although, less sleep brings... the issue can be solved' (the comma after 'although' is incorrect). Despite these errors, the meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. Increasing the variety of complex structures while focusing on article usage would improve the accuracy.

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