Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-11

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)

Stress is considered a huge issue in some societies, people often debate about which generation faced it more. Some people now tend to feel more stressed than the people in the past because of the internet. While, some people have contrasting views on it and believe that the previous generation had more problems to deal with so they were under more stressed and since their was not any definition of stress back then to show the sufferings so it wasn't even considered a thing and I agree with the argument that the past generations felt more stress than us today.

After the invent of internet, people started feeling more stress today is because a large number of people have joined different social media platforms and everyone tries to show how cool they are on the internet makes people stressed and gives them a sort of jealousy that why he has that thing and not me and this whole social media / internet has kind of ruined the feeling of owning what we have and having grateful about it rather than seeing your neighbor enjoying a better lifestyle while you were lying on your bed and doing nothing.

I think people from the past had more things to worry about like not having conversations in months with a family member who lives far or having to travel for days in camels and horses to visit a place or meet someone dear. The fact that people today has this advantage of communicating with anyone anywhere in the world and commuting to different continents in hours does make life easy.

In conclusion, with no technology, past generation felt stressed over simple things that we take for granted.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You discuss both perspectives and state a clear opinion in the introduction: you agree that earlier generations experienced more stress. The examples about social-media comparison and the difficulties of travelling or communicating in the past are relevant to the question. However, the two views are not developed equally: the modern-stress paragraph focuses mainly on social media, while the argument that earlier generations faced greater pressure is asserted more than explained. The conclusion also reduces the past view to “stress over simple things,” which does not fully reflect the more serious hardships mentioned earlier. To strengthen the response, explain why those hardships created greater pressure and acknowledge that modern pressures can also be substantial.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two perspectives, and a conclusion. This makes the main line of argument easy to follow. Some links between ideas, however, are awkward or unclear. The opening sentence joins two independent ideas with a comma, and the first paragraph contains a long chain of points connected by “and” and “so.” The transition “While” at the start of a sentence is also incomplete in its current form. Within the body paragraphs, clearer topic sentences and more deliberate links between examples and claims would improve progression. Keep each paragraph focused on one main argument, then use a concluding sentence to show how its evidence supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of relevant vocabulary, including “social media platforms,” “jealousy,” “commuting,” and “communicating with anyone anywhere in the world.” These choices help convey the contrast between modern and past experiences. However, several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “after the invent of internet,” “under more stressed,” and “having grateful about it.” Repetition of general words such as “things,” “people,” and “stress” also limits precision. Some informal phrasing, including “how cool they are” and “that thing,” is less suitable for an academic essay. Aim for more exact collocations and a consistently formal register, while retaining the relevant examples and ideas.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced with “While” and a sentence explaining how communication has changed. However, some errors in sentence construction and agreement make parts of the response difficult to process. For example, “people today has this advantage” has subject–verb disagreement, while “everyone tries to show how cool they are … makes people stressed” lacks a clear grammatical connection between its clauses. The opening also uses a comma to join complete sentences. Practise separating independent clauses with a full stop or suitable conjunction, and check agreement and sentence completeness when writing longer sentences. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas clearer.

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