Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-09

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)

According to varies society stress has been the major factor affecting most people all over the world.

Firstly, the current generation tend to have more stress due to various reasons like luck of employment,to much pressure from the family,society pressure example being able to access internet and feeling like your far back in life than your peers.This leads to committing suicide or falling into wrong groups which will give one's life a turn around making them be more stressed.

Secondly,the old generation according to me might have handled stress more nicely making it to be less recorgnised because during those time there was a lot of employment,no social media plat forms , living expenses was not as expensive like now.I would say they did not have alot of stess compared to now however, they might have been under pressure to make it in life but stress was not one of there key factor which made them more strong

In conclusion, I would say the current generation has the highest chances of stress affecting them than the old adults because as per the current society more young adults tend to rely on social media platform making them always a target, other than that it gives them too much pressure that makes them feel that they are behind in life than there age mates which leads to more stress and depression.For the old age the only experienced pressure but stress was never cosidered because they really did not have acess to the internet that mostly puts it out there for everyone to access .I would say the past generation were less stressed than the current generation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both views and state a clear preference for the idea that people today experience more stress. The points about employment, living costs, family and social pressure, and social media are relevant, and you explain how online comparisons can make young people feel behind their peers. However, the earlier generation’s pressures are treated briefly: the claim that employment was plentiful and expenses were lower is not supported with an example, and the response does not fully explain why people in the past may have faced greater pressure despite lacking the term “stress.” Develop both sides more evenly and make the distinction between experiencing pressure and recognising it as stress clearer. This would make the discussion more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening, two body paragraphs introduced by “Firstly” and “Secondly,” and a conclusion that restates your view. This helps the reader follow the main direction of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to track because several ideas are joined together without clear relationships. For example, the first body paragraph moves from employment and family pressure to internet comparisons, suicide, and “wrong groups” without explaining each link. The conclusion also repeats the social-media comparison rather than drawing the two views together. Use clearer sentence boundaries and connect each example explicitly to the point it supports; vary linking phrases rather than relying mainly on “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “In conclusion.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “employment,” “living expenses,” “social media,” “pressure,” and “depression,” so the central ideas are generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems make the writing less precise. Phrases such as “luck of employment,” “social pressure example,” and “make it in life” do not express the intended ideas naturally; “recorgnised,” “stess,” and “acess” also show inconsistent spelling. Repetition of “stress,” “pressure,” and “current generation” further limits variety. Build a small set of accurate topic phrases, such as “financial strain,” “employment insecurity,” and “social comparison,” and check spelling and collocations when editing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentences and use basic structures to explain causes and consequences, but the range is limited and complex sentences are often difficult to control. For example, “the current generation tend to have more stress” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “living expenses was not as expensive like now” contains problems with agreement and comparison structure. In the conclusion, the long sentence beginning “For the old age” runs several ideas together, and punctuation does not consistently mark sentence boundaries. These errors sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with controlled clauses using “because,” “although,” and “which.” Check agreement, articles, and punctuation during revision.

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.