Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-13
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
It is better to buy just a few expensive clothes, rather than lots of cheaper clothes.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Clothes are an essential element in the human livelihood. Majority of the people believes that spending on luxury clothes to buy few items are always better than spending on non-branded clothes. I partially agree with this statement because having expensive clothes are better for some occasion but for daily wear, people usually like to spend less. My essay further elaborate both the reasons with the relevant examples and my view at the end.
To begin with, branded product like Puma, Adidas and other brands helps customers to feel superior because the products are usually rare and expensive as compared to local market clothes. Additionally, the material for branded products are of high quality and the fiting is always top-notch. For instance,
On the other hand, cheap clothes are basic necessity in our daily life as people like to spend less for daily wear. Cheaper clothes also provide the good quality product. For instance, recent survey in news article reveal that few brands also manufacture their product in the same factory, only the difference is always brand logo.
Similarly, people from all income groups can afford to purchase cheaper clothes.
From my perspective, it is best to spend on luxury clothes as it gives you confidence after spending a lot on good quality clothes but for daily routine we must prefer the lots of cheaper clothes as after washing daily most of the clothes lost their quality.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While you present a clear position, the arguments are underdeveloped. For example, the paragraph regarding branded products is left incomplete, and the supporting points lack sufficient depth or specific, illustrative examples. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph fully explores a single main idea with a clear explanation and a concrete example. The current length and lack of development mean the task is only partially addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Additionally', and 'On the other hand' to link ideas. However, the progression is sometimes hindered by the brevity of the content and the incomplete sentence in the second paragraph. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be smoother. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that every paragraph is fully developed to support the overall argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You use some relevant terms like 'luxury clothes', 'non-branded', and 'income groups', but there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise vocabulary. There are also some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'fiting' (spelling) and 'few brands also manufacture their product in the same factory' (which lacks precision). To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and synonyms to express your ideas with greater nuance and variety.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('Majority of the people believes', 'clothes are better'), article usage ('in news article'), and pluralization errors ('few items are always better'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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