Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-22

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)

In modern society, stress is increas day by day as a main issue, many to believe that people today experience higher levels of stress than previous generations. some argue that current stress levels are overstated. Both perspectives offer how human pressure has low over time.

On the one hand, there are some reasons why modern life appears more stressful. Technology has blurred the boundaries between work and personal life. Employees are expected to be reachable outside standard working hours, leading to continuous mental engagement and burnout. Furthermore, the modern economy places significant emphasis on intense competition, job instability, and high living costs, requiring individuals to continuously adapt to fast-paced environments. Unlike in the past, contemporary pressure is predominantly mental and psychological rather than physical, making it persistent and difficult to escape.

On the other hand, some people argue that past generations faced some pressures, including poverty, physical manual labor, lower living standards, and global events such as wars and epidemics. However, because psychological concepts like "stress" and "mental health" were not widely recognized or discussed, people did not categorize their struggles in those terms. From this perspective, modern discussions surrounding stress may not indicate an actual increase in suffering, but rather a greater societal awareness to discuss psychological well-being.

In my opinion, while earlier generations faced some physical hardships and life-threatening crises, modern stress is unique in its relentless, psychological nature. The nature of pressure has shifted from physical survival to stress and social . Therefore, while previous generations experienced severe material hardship, the pervasive mental pressures of contemporary life make modern stress a real challenge rather than an exaggerated claim.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on modern and historical stress and providing a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported, such as mentioning technology blurring boundaries and historical manual labor. However, there is some under-development, particularly in the concluding paragraph where sentences like "The nature of pressure has shifted from physical survival to stress and social ." feel truncated and incomplete. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing it firmly in the Band 6 territory due to minor gaps in extension and a truncated concluding thought.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into clear paragraphs with a logical overall progression. The introduction outlines the topic, body paragraphs examine the two contrasting views, and the final paragraph delivers the writer's opinion. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as "On the one hand" and "On the other hand." However, cohesion is occasionally faulty or mechanical, and referencing suffers due to missing words in places, such as "Both perspectives offer how human pressure has low over time," which lacks an object and verb clarity. Paragraphing is present and appropriate, supporting an overall coherent arrangement.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as "continuous mental engagement," "job instability," and "psychological well-being." However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text. For example, "stress is increas day by day as a main issue" contains word form and grammatical errors, and phrases like "pressure has low over time" misuse common verbs. Spelling and word choice errors occur ("increas" instead of increasing), but they do not severely impede overall communication, reflecting Band 6 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures like "Unlike in the past, contemporary pressure is predominantly mental..." However, there are frequent grammatical errors, missing words, and incomplete phrases, such as "many to believe," "pressure has low over time," and the unfinished sentence fragment at the end of the final paragraph ("social ."). While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band, as control over complex structures is inconsistent.

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