Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-18
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 5.0)
In this modern world, people buy clothes to look fashionable. Some individuals buy plenty of cheap clothes because they want to wear different attire each day whereas others shop for a few expensive clothes which provides better quality as they wear them on repeat. In my opinion, it is better to buy a few expensive clothes, rather than wasting money on cheap clothes.
The quality of the cheap clothes may cause irritation to skin and sometimes those are distributed by thift stores
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response is significantly under-length, containing only 82 words against the 250-word requirement. Consequently, the task is not fully addressed. While you establish a clear position in the introduction, the body paragraph is extremely brief and fails to develop your arguments. You mention that cheap clothes may cause skin irritation, but this point is not supported with examples or logical progression. To achieve a higher band, you must expand your ideas, provide detailed explanations, and include relevant examples to support your viewpoint, ensuring the response meets the minimum word count.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is too short to demonstrate a full range of cohesive devices or effective paragraphing. While there is a basic attempt at an introduction and a body paragraph, the lack of development makes it difficult to assess your ability to organize ideas logically. You use a few basic connectors like 'whereas' and 'in my opinion', but the overall structure is incomplete. To improve, you need to write full paragraphs that follow a logical sequence, using a wider variety of linking words and phrases to connect your ideas smoothly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the limited content provided, but it is quite basic. Phrases like 'look fashionable' and 'wasting money' are functional but lack the sophistication expected at higher levels. There is a spelling error ('thift' instead of 'thrift'). To improve, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary, including less common lexical items and collocations related to consumer habits and clothing quality, while ensuring accuracy in spelling and word choice.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the use of 'whereas' and 'which'. However, there are grammatical issues, such as the subject-verb agreement error in 'which provides better quality' (should be 'provide' to match 'clothes') and the awkward phrasing 'those are distributed by thift stores'. Because the text is so short, it is difficult to judge your control over a wide range of structures. Focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and refining your sentence construction to improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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