Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-13

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)

Many communities consider stress as one of the most crucial health problem and regarded that individuals nowadays affect more than they did in the past, whereas others claim that in recent times, people are making it overstated where past generation went through more pressurized situations but the term 'stress' did not discovered. In my opinion, due to the technological advancement, people get the chance to share their feelings more. People from all time zones are dealing with it and the level of quantifying stress is subjective.

It can not be denied that stress has always been persistent across all time. The technological improvement has accelerated the visibility of identifying the stress sufferers to others eye. For instance, mentally depressed people now share their life related sad post on social media, frequently talking about their feelings which was not possible when these sharing media did not exist and just the family members knew about their conditions.

Nevertheless, quantifying the stress level and comparing the stress amount with past and present people is not possible as the level vary from person to person. On previous days,

people were suffering from this issue and in modern times, people are also facing difficulties handling with it. The pressure did not change but the topic or subject about stressing does. In past, people were stressed about mostly natural calamities that will damage their home or crops whereas recent people are more stressed about their career, image, personality although some topics are still similar such as unemployment, education, etc.

In conclusion, while it is true that digital platform makes the topic of stress hyperbolic but the level of stress people faced before and now are unquantifiable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on stress and providing a clear personal opinion. The writer argues that technology allows people to share feelings more openly and that stress levels are subjective. While the ideas are relevant, they tend to be somewhat under-developed and lack fully elaborated supporting examples. For instance, the mention of social media and natural calamities touches on good points, but these ideas are not pushed far enough to reach a higher band. However, the task is adequately covered overall, earning a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into four paragraphs with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is a logical progression overall, moving from the definition/visibility of stress to a comparison between past and present triggers. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with phrases like 'On previous days' and 'recent people'. Referencing and linking are occasionally awkward, such as 'the term 'stress' did not discovered', which disrupts the flow. Paragraphing is present and adequate, but the overall cohesive management points firmly to a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'technological advancement', 'quantifying', 'subjective', and 'hyperbolic'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'crucial health problem' instead of problems, 'individuals nowadays affect more' instead of affected, and 'the topic or subject about stressing does'. Spelling and word formation errors, such as 'did not discovered' and 'digital platform makes', occur. These do not seriously impede communication, placing the response at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in voice and tense, such as 'stress did not discovered' (passive voice error) and 'people get the chance' mixed with awkward phrasing. Preposition and article errors are also prevalent, such as 'in previous days' and 'the level vary'. Although the meaning remains generally understandable, the high frequency of grammatical slips prevents the response from achieving a Band 6.0.

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