Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-27

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)

The communities have regarded that stress is the major problem. It is often argued that while few individuals believe that people suffer from stress than in the past, while others claim that the older generations were under more pressure. Although, previous generations faced serious hardships, I believe people today experience greater day-to-day psychological pressure because of work, finanical demands and technology.

On the one hand people are more stressed today because of financial pressure, living costs, constant use of social media and technology. Employeers are working for heavy workloads and long working hours, pressure of youngsters to succeed in education and careers. Moreover, corporations offer more work and they have less time for family and relaxation. For example, a employee has to manage financial problems such as EMI, loans and children education fee. Therefore, it makes the public stress to manage the responsibilities of personal ilfe and professional life.

On the other hand, previous generations had more pressure because of fewer technological conveniences, more phsyical work, limited healthcare, greater financial difficulties, war economic problems and difficult living conditions. In other words, people had fewer ways to talk about or identify stress. For instance, farmers had pressure about the cultivation of crops, farming, irrigation problems or water scarcity. As a result older people have no technologies for farming.

In conclusion, stress plays a significant role in people's life. Although generations faced considerable pressure. I believe people today experience greater stress because of work demands, financial pressure, difficult for people to maintain a healthy work-life balance and technology.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both perspectives and state a clear view: although earlier generations faced serious hardships, you believe people today experience greater day-to-day psychological pressure. The first body paragraph supports this with work, living costs, technology and family responsibilities, while the second recognises past pressures such as physical labour and limited healthcare. This meets the task, but the two sides are not developed equally clearly. The example about a worker managing loans and education fees is relevant, though its link to stress could be explained further. The farming example is less effective: it lists agricultural difficulties, then concludes that older people had no farming technology, without showing how this supports the comparison. Develop each example and explain more directly why it indicates greater or lesser stress.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two paragraphs presenting opposing views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the overall argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear. The opening sentence of the introduction repeats “while” and makes the contrast difficult to follow, and “Although generations faced considerable pressure” is left as an incomplete thought before the final opinion. Some ideas within the first body paragraph are presented as a list rather than being linked into a clear progression. Use fewer formulaic transitions, connect each supporting detail explicitly to the paragraph’s main point, and ensure every sentence is complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “financial pressure,” “work-life balance,” “living conditions,” and “water scarcity,” which allows you to discuss both modern and historical sources of stress. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “psychological pressure” and “technological conveniences.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “finanical,” “Employeers,” “phsyical,” and “ilfe” are misspelled, while “a employee” and “pressure of youngsters” are not natural expressions. Some phrases are also vague or awkward, including “the public stress” and “war economic problems.” Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations, especially for describing employment, education costs, and historical hardship.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in the introduction (“Although previous generations faced serious hardships…”) and a cause-and-effect sentence beginning “Therefore.” This gives the response some structural variety. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in longer sentences. The introduction contains a faulty contrast structure (“while… while”), and “Although generations faced considerable pressure” is a dependent clause without a main clause. Article and agreement errors also appear in “a employee” and “Employeers are working,” while “people today experience” is more accurate. Review sentence boundaries, articles, and subject–verb agreement, and avoid joining several points into one sentence unless their grammatical relationship is clear. More accurate complex sentences would make your reasoning easier to follow.

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.