Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-26

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)

In my opinion about "expensive clothes. they are better than cheaper clothes" I'm absolutely disagree.

To be honest most of companies or industries they really like to spend quite money for marketing on TV, radio, internet, social media, sponsors, etc... Only to show expensive clothes with a good image or design. However there are plenty of cheaper options in order to choose them. I have already experienced buying both of kind of clothes and the quality is the most important. Could be a really big difference of prices, but I have found the same quality of clothes in cheaper and expensive clotes. Image, design and colour would be really important too, most of rich companies really like to spend too much money and time to improve sellings however the challenge for them have been to be competitive with cheapers companies.

Even I have no been talking about hand crafted people. That the spend plenty of. Time making the process for example to make a t-shirt wood. To be honest, they have absolutely the right about selling their products in any place ad high prices, but not huge companies that they make quickly process, unrespecfull even they don't give a good payment for workers and obviously the job is completely hard and full time, that's way I prefer to clothe and buy handcrafted clothes. So I can respect the global warming, bad manners about Companies to workers and I could contribute to the local economy. Expensive clothes only gives status not quality

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you disagree that buying a few expensive clothes is better, and you give relevant reasons, including your experience of finding similar quality at different prices and your preference for supporting local handcrafted clothing. You also connect your choice to workers’ conditions and the local economy. These points address the question, but some are not fully explained. For example, the claim that expensive clothes mainly provide status would be stronger with a specific comparison or example, and the discussion of marketing does not clearly show how it proves cheaper clothes are preferable. Develop each reason with a clear explanation and a concrete example so the argument is more consistently supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an identifiable progression from your general disagreement, to price and quality, and then to handcrafted clothing and ethical concerns. However, the organisation within paragraphs is difficult to follow because several different points are joined together, and some links are unclear. For instance, the shift from companies’ marketing to your personal experience is abrupt, while “Even I have no been talking about hand crafted people” does not clearly introduce the next idea. Use separate paragraphs for price and quality, and for ethical or environmental reasons. Make the relationship between each claim and your position explicit, and use linking phrases selectively rather than relying on “To be honest” and “However.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “quality,” “competitive,” “handcrafted,” “global warming,” and “local economy.” These choices show some range, but inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations sometimes make the meaning unclear. Examples include “clotes,” “cheap ers companies,” “improve sellings,” and “make a t-shirt wood”; the last phrase is especially difficult to interpret. “Unrespecfull” also does not express the intended idea naturally. Choose precise phrases such as “low-cost brands,” “increase sales,” and “poor treatment of workers,” and check spelling and word forms. This would make your argument easier to understand while preserving your relevant topic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with reasons and contrast, such as the sentence beginning “Could be a really big difference of prices, but…”. However, sentence structures are often incomplete or inaccurately formed, which sometimes makes relationships between ideas hard to follow. For example, “I'm absolutely disagree” needs a different verb pattern, and “most of companies or industries they really like” has an unnecessary subject and an unclear structure. The sentence beginning “That the spend plenty of” is also incomplete. Practise forming complete subject–verb sentences, checking agreement and verb forms, and dividing long sentences into shorter units. More accurate punctuation will help clarify where each idea ends.

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.