Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-22

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)

It is an ongoing debate that either stress is experienced mostly by the humans of modern age or it was also a problem in the past. Some people believe that stress is a primary issue of present times as compared to the past, while others argue that it is a myth and the people were more stressed but they didn't identified this issue as stress. This essay will explore both views and then I will present my opinion in this cnotext.

The fact is undeniable that one of the major issues of this century is stress and population of various age groups is being effected due to it. There are several causes of stress and some cases are much severe that the person has to take the medicine to be relax. Stress at present is caused by the technological advancements. For instance, consider a student who used to waste time on social and at the time of exam he stressed out because of lack of preparation. Also, some people gets stress by watching others life updates and camparison makes the individual mentally ill. In the past, people used to suffer from stress; however, there were fewer reasons to be stressed as communities were not demanding and they became happy with what they have. There were not various options of careers at that time and one did not needed to be depressed regarding a good job.

The individuals who argue that stress was a problem in the past also are right, even though it was not common as compared with the present. The people were simple and their thinking was positive which was the reason behind their satisfied lives. It is obvious from history that they had lived more satisfied life than us. Although there were also conflicts but mostly solvable. The believe that people were unaware of the problem with which they were coping with is stress seems to be valid as there were not much medical or research facilities to identify it. However, in my opinion the stress rate is higher nowadays as compared to the past. For instance, the communication gap at those times was very small and most of the issues were solved just through discussions and one's problem was the headache of others also. Therefore, no one remained worried for longer times as everybody was ready to help. For example, my grand father told me about his young life and he used to say that we were not worried about anything as there were always a solution of every problem and all were present to help but now the attitude of people have changed.

In conclusion, I support the former opinion as due to robotic lifestyle of us, most of our friends or relatives did not get the chance to discuss the problems and the stress continue to increase. Moreover, in this age of competition with other humams or even with machines, the factor of stress is soaring. It's amount in the past was not huge and people use to overcome it by simple methods and everyone was ready to help others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses both viewpoints and provides a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the impact of technology and social comparison on modern stress levels. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat inconsistent. For instance, the discussion on the past is slightly repetitive, and the argument regarding why people in the past were 'happier' lacks depth. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting evidence could be more analytical rather than relying on anecdotal references like 'my grandfather'. To reach a higher band, ensure that arguments are fully extended with more objective reasoning rather than generalisations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'The fact is undeniable that...' or 'The believe that...'. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, and some transitions between sentences feel abrupt. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the flow between and within paragraphs could be smoother to achieve a more natural, sophisticated structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'technological advancements' and 'robotic lifestyle'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'effected' instead of 'affected', 'take the medicine to be relax' instead of 'take medication to relax', and 'cnotext' (spelling error). The range is sufficient to communicate, but the lack of precision and occasional errors in word formation prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include 'people gets stress' (subject-verb agreement), 'one did not needed' (tense error), 'the stress continue to increase' (subject-verb agreement), and 'It's amount' (incorrect pronoun usage). Punctuation is generally functional, but the frequency of these grammatical slips is noticeable. To improve, the student should focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage, as these errors currently limit the accuracy of the writing.

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