Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-05

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)

The question of whether today's generation is under more stress than old generations is a highly debatable topic among people nowadays. Some people argue that stress is a major problem now while other maintain that the amount of stress people have today is exaggerated. I am inclined to believe that today young generation is suffering from more stress.

Proponents of the first view says that old generations were under more pressure, but the idea of suffering from stress did not exist. The rationale behind this is that the increase of self-diagnosis of different mental disorders such as anxiety, depression is very common in teenage and youth nowadays. Today there are more facilities than in the past. Consequently, the amount of stress people have today is exaggerated.

Conversely, people who assert that today's generation is suffering from more stress argue that the advancements and facilities have lot of detrimental effect on mental well-being. For example, the innovation of AI took so many jobs and increased unemployment in the society which results in more stress. The competitive job market, stress of meeting deadlines, doing multiple job to run a house in this economy have adverse affects on emotional health.

Another significant reason is spending more time in front of screen and less in nature as compared to old generations. Furthermore, comparing yourself to someone on social media and having unrealistic lifestyle expectation also brought lot of stress and frustration. Also, old people used to spend more quality time with family as compared to young generation today.

In conclusion, nowadays people are under more stress. That's why the number of psychologists are increasing in the society. The effective solutions are therapies, yoga, meditation and spending quality time with family and friends. Connecting to nature as our grandparents used to do is a proactive approach. But there is still a need of mental health awareness in the society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. The second paragraph, which is intended to explain the view that stress is exaggerated, is confusingly written; it mentions that 'today there are more facilities' and concludes that stress is exaggerated, but the logic is not clearly linked to the prompt's premise about previous generations. The arguments regarding modern stressors are more effectively developed, but the essay would benefit from more nuanced exploration of why the 'idea of stress' did not exist previously. Overall, the task is addressed, but the depth of analysis is inconsistent.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'Conversely', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the transition between ideas within paragraphs is occasionally mechanical. For instance, the second paragraph lacks a smooth logical flow, making it difficult to follow the argument. Referencing is generally clear, though some sentences feel slightly disjointed. The progression of ideas is present, but the use of cohesive devices could be more sophisticated to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with some attempts at topic-specific language such as 'self-diagnosis', 'mental disorders', and 'detrimental effect'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and minor errors, such as 'innovation of AI took so many jobs' (should be 'advent' or 'rise') and 'brought lot of stress' (missing article 'a'). The vocabulary is functional but lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. The repetition of basic phrases like 'today's generation' and 'old generations' also limits the lexical variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Proponents... says', 'number of psychologists are increasing'), missing articles ('in the society', 'run a house'), and incorrect word forms ('adverse affects' instead of 'effects'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. The control over punctuation and sentence structure is sufficient for a 6.0, but more error-free complex sentences are needed for a 7.0.

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