People are increasingly reporting difficulties sleeping, often as a result of our modern 24/7 lifestyle. This essay will consider the problems caused by lack of sleep, along with some solutions. Lack of sleep obviously causes tiredness, but perhaps more importantly, to concentrate. When tired, the brain will struggle to focus for any length of time and this can be a serious issue for workers who need to concentrate intensely, such as drivers and doctors. Sleep also helps the body to rejuvenate and heal, so anyone who gets inadequate sleep may start suffering from poor health. Indeed, studies show that lack of sleep may contribute to diabetes and cancer. In addition to physical health, failing to get a good night’s sleep can also affect your mental health. Tired people are more prone to irritability and a short temper. A couple of broad solutions may help people who can’t get enough sleep. The first is medication. Powerful drugs like temazepam can assist people in getting to sleep, while can be taken in tablet form. But even herbal remedies can help: a drink of chamomile tea in the evening, for example, can help ready the body and mind for sleep. may be to develop evening habits that prepare you for sleep. People need to wind down and relax during the evening if they are to get to sleep properly, so computer screens or any activities that may stimulate the brain. Reading a good novel can be one of the best sleep aids for many people. To conclude, lack of sleep can impact both physical and mental health, but medication and a relaxing evening routine can help overcome the problem.
Sample response & feedback
Problems and Solutions for Lack of Sleep
Question
Nowadays many people complain that they have difficulties getting enough sleep. What problems can lack of sleep cause? What can be done about lack of sleep? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Annotated response
10 correction notes
Overall assessment
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response develops both parts of the question logically, using relevant examples and effective vocabulary such as 'rejuvenate' and 'irritability'. Some ideas would benefit from fuller explanation, especially the health claims and the comparison between solutions. Accuracy also needs attention: the parallelism error, the comma separating subject and verb, and the reference to taking hormone levels in tablet form weaken otherwise fluent writing.
IELTS criteria
How each score was decided
TR Task Response
7.0The response addresses both questions directly, presents relevant problems and solutions with clear main ideas and some supporting examples, though development of individual points remains somewhat concise.
CC Coherence and Cohesion
7.5The text progresses clearly from problems to solutions and a conclusion, with signposts such as In addition, A second and To conclude. The supplied source is one paragraph; separating these main stages would make the organisation more visible.
LR Lexical Resource
7.5Vocabulary is flexible and generally precise, including 'sleep-inducing hormone', 'wind down' and 'prone to irritability', although describing hormone levels as tablets is an imprecise use of meaning.
GRA Grammatical Range and Accuracy
7.0A range of complex structures is used with generally good control, though a parallelism error ('perhaps more importantly, to reduced ability') and minor slips show accuracy is not consistently faultless.