Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some societies, stress is now regarded as a major problem, and it is thought that people suffer from more stress than they did in the past. However, others feel that the amount of stress people have today is exaggerated. They say that previous generations were under more pressure, but the idea of suffering from stress did not exist.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Stress is indeed one of the major problems people nowadays suffer from, societies now are being more aware of it than before. From my perspective Stress should be one of the major things that society have to be concerned with but with time people have made it a even larger issue than it is.

From where i see it people these days are being stressed about even little things, people before had the same issues if not more but they were not as stressed. For example before people use to have more children and they used to not worry at all regarding the living expenses or about their own income, but people these days are stressed over their financial condition so much that they prefer not having children to save money.

Stress leads to many other problems such as low energy, people are always tired or they might even experience different health conditions such as Depression, Anxiety or Low libido. I studied a report a while ago on the Internet that stress is one of the major causes of low testosterone in males. My experience with stess is quite balanced because I'm not stressed easily but i experience it occasionally when i have a big event coming up or when i have to address a huge crowd on a stage but i cope up with it by doing self-talks and just taking a power nap, that personally helps me.

To conclude, yes Stress is a major problem and it always has been but societies nowadays has made it so huge that they blame everything on stress, and that shouldn't be the case.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view: stress is a genuine problem, but its importance is sometimes overstated. You also refer to both perspectives, especially by contrasting current financial worries with earlier generations’ circumstances. However, the discussion of the view that people today experience more stress is not developed as fully as the claim that earlier generations faced pressure without naming it. The example about having children and expenses is broad and does not establish how stress levels compare; the personal account mainly describes how you cope rather than supporting the comparison. Develop each side with specific, balanced reasons or examples, and make your position explicit throughout, not only in the opening and conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the ideas generally follow a sensible order. The second paragraph presents a comparison, while the next explains possible effects of stress and gives a personal example. However, the progression between these points is not always clear: the health effects and personal coping strategies do not directly advance the discussion of whether stress is greater today or was greater in the past. Some links are also mechanical, such as repeated use of “people” and “stress,” and the opening joins separate ideas with a comma. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the question’s two views.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of relevant vocabulary, including “financial condition,” “living expenses,” “health conditions,” and “cope,” which makes the main ideas understandable. There are also attempts at more specific terms, such as “low libido” and “testosterone.” However, some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, including “people before,” “stressed over their financial condition,” and “made it so huge.” Spelling and capitalization are inconsistent, for example “stess,” “i,” and capitalized “Stress” within sentences. Choose more precise collocations and maintain consistent spelling and capitalization; this would make the argument sound more controlled and appropriately academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a conditional comparison in “people before had the same issues if not more” and a sentence listing possible effects of stress. Meaning is generally recoverable, but some errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and punctuation remain. For example, “societies now are being more aware” has an awkward verb construction, “society have to be concerned” has subject–verb disagreement, and “a even larger issue” uses the wrong article. The opening also contains a comma splice, while “societies nowadays has made it” has an agreement error. Review agreement and article use, and separate independent clauses with a full stop or an appropriate conjunction.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.