Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-20

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)

In today's era, a lot of people facing a difficulties to get enough sleep. There are plethora of reasons why people are not able to get enough sleep. This essay will discuss the main reason why people rae not getting sufficient amount of sleep followed by the solutions for the same.

To start with, mainly sleep depends our daily activities. As per the survey in 2015, disclosed that a person within a age group of 18-40 need to have atleast 7 to 8 hours of sleep. In today's time, the one of the primary reason of not getting sufficient sleep is smartphone. People specially youth always stuck to their phones rather than sleep. Technological advancement increased the screen time of the individuals. It keeps them busy rather than focus on themselves.

Another crucial reason is the work schedule or sedentary lifestyle. Nowadays, we live in a very tensed environment, work schedules are totally different then what we had in the last few decades. That is also one of the main reason some people particularly the youngsters didn't getting enough sleep. Busy work schedules, long hours of work forced lot of people to stay awake till late night to complete the assigned tasks. Stress and fatigue also affect the quality of sleep. Stressful environment at work and home makes the individual totally exhausted.

This problem will be solved by taking some actions. For instance, stress can be avoided by spending a quality time with family and loved ones. Arranging fun activities with family may provide balance in the life of an individual despite having a stressful envirnment at work. In addition to it, certain limits need to set on smartphone usage

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt by identifying causes of sleep deprivation, such as smartphone usage and work schedules, and suggesting solutions like spending time with family and setting limits on technology. The introduction, however, contradicts itself slightly by stating it will discuss the 'main reason' (singular) before listing multiple factors, and the conclusion is somewhat abrupt and incomplete. Ideas are extended with some supporting examples, such as reference to a 2015 survey and stressful work environments, but some explanations lack full elaboration. While the task is adequately addressed, the overall development falls short of higher bands due to minor omissions and an underdeveloped conclusion. Therefore, this performance fits comfortably within the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing causes and finally solutions. However, logical progression is occasionally hindered by faulty cohesive devices and referencing. For instance, transitional phrases like 'To start with' and 'In addition to it' are used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'followed by the solutions for the same' where phrasing is awkward. Paragraphing is utilized, but the final paragraph breaks off abruptly without fully concluding the argument. Cohesive devices are at times mechanical or inaccurate, preventing the response from reaching higher bands. These issues place the cohesion of the text firmly at a Band 6 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'sedentary lifestyle', 'technological advancement', and 'fatigue'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'facing a difficulties to get', 'within a age group', 'always stuck to their phones', and 'envirnment'. Additionally, repetition of phrases like 'not getting sufficient sleep' occurs multiple times. While communication is not severely impeded and the meaning generally comes across, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing prevents the response from achieving a Band 7. The lexical resource demonstrated is best described by the Band 5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement and tense issues, for example, 'people facing a difficulties', 'people rae not getting', 'sleep depends our daily activities', 'need to have atleast', 'the one of the primary reason', and 'youngsters didn't getting'. Furthermore, punctuation and preposition errors are noticeable throughout. Although the reader can still grasp the intended meaning, the high frequency of basic and complex structural errors means that error-free sentences are not in the majority. This level of grammatical control corresponds directly to a Band 5 score.

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

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