Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-03

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 6.5)

At present, stress is a major concern. While some individuals believe that this phenomenon is caused by capitalism and comparison, others argue that older generations had to put more physical labour and had to suffer more health problems. I am inclined to agree with the first view.

Capitalism and comparison make people unsatisfied. First of all, because of capitalism people have to work constantly, even in their personal time. This leads them to overworking. Although they become exhasuted, they don't get enough payment to live a comfortable life. They cannot afford housing and proper healthcare. The main reason of less salary is capitalism, as companies or businesses want to profit more by being cost efficient. On the other hand, comparison makes people unable to be happy with what they have. With the rise of capitalism, advertisement and show-off is becoming common is social medias. General public often compares their situations with carefully curated stories and become depressed. They feel hopeless, as they can see people achieving success while they are stuck. For example, a daily labourer makes very little money at the modern society and finds it hard to fullfill necessities. This is a problem posed by capitalism. Moreover, at past, even if this was the case the labourer would not be able to compare himself to a wealthy person to the extent he can do now. These reasons amplify stress and modern people experience it more deeply than older generations.

Nevertheless, previous generations were not without stress. There were less technical advancement so people had to do jobs manually. For example, for agricultre they had to harvest by hands. This would deplete energy but the return they would get is much lesser than today. Furthermore, medicines were not as developed and awareness for the causes of sicknesses were also not that much. Which made them prone to health issues. It is seen that in the past people would die from illness that is solved pretty easily in modern times, such as cholera, pox. These were valid reasons to be stresses about. But as people were not aware of stress, they would not treat them as a seperate issue.

In conclusion, even though in the past stress was not given importance does not mean it did not exist. However, modern people have to deal with a lots of issues that impact mental health simultaneously which increases how we experience stress. It makes individuals more overwhelmed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a clear position: you agree that modern life creates greater stress, while acknowledging that earlier generations faced physical hardship and illness. The discussion of capitalism, comparison and social media is relevant, and the examples of insecure work and limited access to healthcare help explain your view. The historical paragraph also recognises genuine pressures, but its development is less complete: manual agricultural work and disease are described, yet the response does not fully compare how these pressures affected people’s lives with modern psychological stress. The claim that people today experience stress “more deeply” would be stronger with clearer support or qualification. To strengthen the response further, develop this comparison and explain more precisely why the absence of a stress label did not mean the experience was absent.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: the introduction presents your position, the two body paragraphs discuss the contrasting views, and the conclusion returns to your main argument. The progression within the first body paragraph is also easy to follow, moving from work and income to comparison and social media. Linking expressions such as “First of all,” “On the other hand,” and “Nevertheless” help signal relationships between ideas. At times, however, connections are less smooth: “For example” introduces a labourer example after the comparison point, and the link between this example and the preceding discussion could be made more explicit. The sentence beginning “Which made them prone to health issues” is also detached from its cause. Use clearer referencing and integrate examples directly into the point they support.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “capitalism,” “curated stories,” “physical labour,” “health issues,” and “mental health.” These choices allow you to discuss both economic and historical pressures, and the meaning is generally clear. You also attempt some less common expressions, although a few are inaccurate or unnatural: “cost efficient” does not fit smoothly in this context, and “show-off” is not the natural noun for the behaviour described. There are spelling errors such as “exhasuted,” “agricultre,” “fullfill,” and “seperate,” alongside imprecise phrases such as “a lots of issues.” These do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and control. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations, especially for describing work, income and social comparison.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses with “Although,” “as,” and “even if,” and most ideas remain understandable. Some sentences show useful control, such as “Although they become exhausted, they don’t get enough payment to live a comfortable life.” However, there are some grammatical errors and awkward constructions. “Advertisement and show-off is becoming common” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “There were less technical advancement” needs plural agreement and a different quantifier. “Which made them prone to health issues” is a sentence fragment, and “at past” and “in the modern society” show problems with grammatical patterns and articles. Review agreement, countable nouns, articles and sentence boundaries, then proofread complex sentences to ensure each clause is complete.

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