Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-05

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)

Some societies regard stress as a major problem, and believe that more people nowadays suffer from stress than they did in the past. However, some feel that the amount of stress some individuals have today is an exaggeration. They believe that older generations were more under pressure, but the idea of suffering form stress did not exist.

I believe that stress indeed is a major issue. And the thought that more individuals suffer from stress than they did in the past may be wrong. Because stress has always been a crucial problem but due to lack of education and limited awareness, mental health was not considered an issue.. Visting a therapist or a psychologist was looked down upon. Due to which the older generations didn't know what to do in stress. Which caused them to be aggressive. Stress causes over stimulation which can be the reason behind aggressive behaviour and becoming easily irritable.

Research shows that ignoring mental health problems may have an impact on the pysical health if unattented. Today, mental health is given the same importance as physical health. People are aware that both mental and physical wellbeing is important. New generation is changing the norms, and stress is seen as an actual health issue. Which is amazing, because people know how to regulate their emotions. Most schools are also encouraging children to talk about mental health and teaching them about emotional regulation because stress affects children's growth massively. If children learn how to handle themselves under stress, then they can grow up to become adults that are less aggressive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially, covering both views to some extent and presenting a clear personal opinion in the introduction. However, some parts of the prompt are only minimally extended. For instance, the discussion regarding the view that previous generations faced more pressure without recognising stress is touched upon, but the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. While you mention that older generations did not know what to do and became aggressive, this line of reasoning is not fully expanded with concrete examples or fully rounded arguments. To reach a higher level, all parts of the task need to be more thoroughly explored with well-supported explanations and fully developed ideas throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays some organisation, but it lacks clear overall progression from one paragraph to the next. Paragraphing is attempted, but the transitions between ideas can feel abrupt. Cohesive devices are sometimes used inaccurately or repetitively, such as starting multiple sentences or clauses with 'Due to which' or fragmenting sentences awkwardly, as seen with 'issue.. Visting' and starting sentences with conjunctions like 'Because'. Referencing is not always completely clear, making the logical flow mechanical rather than smooth. To improve in this area, you should ensure that sentences are linked more naturally with a wider variety of appropriate cohesive tools and that paragraphs follow a clear, progressive path of reasoning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. You make noticeable errors in word form, spelling, and word choice that occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, such as writing 'form' instead of 'from', 'Visting' instead of 'Visiting', and 'pysical' instead of 'physical'. There are also awkward collocations, such as 'more under pressure' instead of 'under more pressure' and 'unattented'. While there is an attempt to use topical vocabulary related to mental health and emotional regulation, the range remains restricted and errors are frequent enough to impede natural communication. Developing a wider and more precise control of lexical items will help elevate your vocabulary score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your writing demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. There are frequent errors in sentence structure and punctuation, including sentence fragments such as 'Due to which the older generations didn't know what to do in stress. Which caused them to be aggressive.' Starting sentences with 'Because' in your second paragraph also leads to fragmented and grammatically incomplete structures. Punctuation errors, such as double periods and missing commas, further detract from the control of grammar. To achieve a higher score, you need to employ a wider mix of error-free complex structures and eliminate frequent basic sentence boundary errors.

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