Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-23

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 6.5)

In many society, there is a growing debate on stress. While some believe suffering from stress is so intensed in this century, others argue that people in the past experinced more stress compared to today’s world but it wasn’t attached to physical problems. Although both perspectives have merit, I believe stress is more popular today than in the past. I will discuss both side of argument in essay including my opinion.

On the one hand, the reason why some argue in favoured of ancient people undergoing stressful circumstance than these present set of humans is because there was not an efficent transportation and communication then. Firstly, the ability to undergo a long distance journey was so challenging and stressful in the olden days, so people had to trek for a long distance and sometimes have to lift their loads on their head while travelling. For instance, if people want to travel from Nigeria to ghana in the olden days, they have to use their foot as a means of transportation except few rich ones among them who could afford horses. Secondly, there is also communication barrier, because there was not a means of communicating, people have to undergo emotional distress because they could not reach their loves ones. However, all these physical exhaustion does not lead to mental illness or physical illness.

On the other hand, I argee with people that believe there are a lot of exhausting situations for people nowadays. This is because economic growth has increased people means of living and price of commodities needed for basic needs are now costly. As a result, people have to work harder and also go through series of physical exhaustion before they could afford a good living condition. For example, in the past things are sold at a cheaper price but recently they are very costly. Futhermore, the introduction of artifical intelligence as result into low employment so people have to struggle before securing a job and some even breakdown mentally. Therefore, people often developed series of health problem because of how extremely they stressed their body and lack of rest.

Inconlcusion, while difficulty in transportation and communication gives people the reason to support stress to be more impactful in the past, I believed economic growth and numerous use of artifical intelligence contributed to the reasons why people have to undergo alot of stress compared to the olden days.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both perspectives and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, though some arguments, such as the comparison of historical transportation to modern stress, are slightly underdeveloped. The essay maintains a consistent position throughout. To reach a higher band, ensure that the link between the examples (e.g., trekking long distances) and the concept of 'stress' is more explicitly articulated, as the essay acknowledges that these physical hardships did not necessarily equate to the modern definition of stress.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the discussion of historical communication barriers and the conclusion of that paragraph is a bit abrupt. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'circumstance', 'efficient', and 'artificial intelligence'. However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'intensed' instead of 'intense', 'in favoured of' instead of 'in favor of', and 'series of physical exhaustion'. Spelling errors like 'experinced' and 'Inconlcusion' also occur. These errors do not impede communication but prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'people have to undergo' vs 'people had to undergo'), article usage (e.g., 'in many society'), and tense consistency. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors throughout. The errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader, but they do not prevent the meaning from being understood.

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.