Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-19

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 6.0)

In modern day societies, individuals have busy schedule which cause a significant problem to New generation whilst, some believe that people for older generation had suffer the most by the stress .Nowadays individuals have overdone amount of stress whereas pervious generations says ideas of suffering was in no existed. This essay will discuss both viewpoints before presenting my opinion.

There is strong evidence to support the idea that modern life has increased stress levels. Technology, while convenient, has blurred the boundary between work and personal life, as many people feel obliged to respond to emails and messages outside working hours. In addition, social media has created new pressures, such as the need to maintain a certain image online or compare one's life to others constantly. The fast pace of modern careers, along with financial pressures like rising living costs and job insecurity, also contribute to heightened anxiety that previous generations may not have faced in the same way.

On the other hand, it is true that earlier generations faced immense hardships, such as wars, famines, poverty and physical labour, which placed enormous strain on both body and mind. The fact that the term "stress" was not commonly used does not necessarily mean people did not suffer from it; rather, mental health simply was not discussed or understood in the way it is today. Many psychological struggles were likely dismissed, ignored, or hidden due to social stigma, rather than being genuinely absent.

In my opinion, while it is difficult to definitively say which generation experienced more stress, I believe modern society has simply become more aware of and open about mental health, rather than stress itself being an entirely new phenomenon. Better understanding, combined with the unique pressures of digital life, means that stress today is both more visible and shaped differently, but not necessarily worse than in the past.

In conclusion, both viewpoints hold some truth: previous generations likely experienced significant stress without recognising it as such, while modern lifestyles have introduced new and different sources of pressure. Rather than comparing the two eras, it may be more useful to focus on how society can better support people in managing stress today.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both viewpoints regarding modern versus past stress and providing a clear personal opinion. The position is maintained throughout the response. In the body paragraphs, ideas are well extended and supported with relevant examples, such as the impact of technology, social media, and historical hardships like wars and famines. Although the introductory paragraph contains some awkward phrasing and minor confusion regarding the opposing views, the overall development of the task meets the criteria for a solid score. The arguments are relevant, comprehensive, and logically lead to a thoughtful conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving from an introduction to well-structured body paragraphs discussing modern pressures and historical hardships, followed by a personal opinion and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader, as seen with transition phrases like 'There is strong evidence', 'On the other hand', and 'In my opinion'. Paragraphing is used appropriately. While referencing and sentence-level linking in the introduction are slightly clumsy, the macro-level cohesion and logical flow across the entire text comfortably satisfy the criteria.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The candidate demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task. Less common lexical items are attempted with some success, such as 'blurred the boundary', 'job insecurity', 'social stigma', and 'phenomenon'. However, there are noticeable vocabulary and collocation errors, particularly in the introduction, such as 'busy schedule which cause a significant problem', 'New generation whilst', and 'overdone amount of stress'. Despite these lexical slips and minor inaccuracies in word choice, communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary used in the body paragraphs shows a good degree of precision and appropriateness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at varied structures such as relative clauses and conditional-style reasoning. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. The introduction contains several noticeable errors, including 'individuals have busy schedule', 'people for older generation had suffer', and 'ideas of suffering was in no existed'. In contrast, the body paragraphs are much stronger, containing many error-free complex sentences like 'The fact that the term "stress" was not commonly used does not necessarily mean people did not suffer from it'. Overall, the errors are frequent enough to prevent a higher band, but they rarely impede communication.

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