Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Many aspects of the way people dress today are influenced by global fashion trends.

How has global fashion become such a strong influence on people's lives? Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Many aspects of the way people dress in the present times are influenced by global fashion trends. The global fashion has became a strong influence on people's lives. In my opinion, this is a negative development because the clothes in trend are more expensive than those which are not and also people then tend to not wear those clothes which then get out of fashion.

The trending clothes are generally more expensive than non-trending clothes and can be a burden for people who can not afford expensive clothing. For instance, school or college going students when see there other rich fellows wearing those costly trendy clothes they then force their parents to buy them same dresses. Also sometimes, when students wear out of fashion clothes they get bullied at their schools or college from their peers who wear dresses influenced by global fashion. So it is a cause of trouble both for parents and childrens.

When new trends come the people then mostly do not wear those clothes which then get out of trend. In this way, many of their new clothes go to waste and frequently buying trending clothes can be very costly. Also everyone takes pressure for buying and following global fashion trends but it should be everyone's own opinion and choice what to and what not to wear and they should not be judged on the base of their dressing. It does not matter if they wear trendy or non-trendy clothes they should have equal respect in the society.

So in my conclusion, global fashion trends have a very negative impact on the society. People tend to buy expensive clothes which they can not afford resulting in financial burdens and not wearing out of trend clothes resulting in waste of clothes.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you consider global fashion a negative development, and you support this with concerns about affordability, pressure on parents, bullying, and clothing waste. These points are relevant, and the examples involving students help make the argument understandable. However, the response only partly answers how global fashion became such a strong influence. It mainly describes its effects, without explaining the causes—for example, the role of social media, advertising, celebrities, or international brands. Some ideas, such as bullying and the pressure to follow trends, are mentioned but not developed with further explanation or a specific example. Addressing the influence question directly and extending each main point would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs present disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. This makes the main line of argument easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Also,” and “So.” However, connections can feel mechanical, and some references are unclear or repetitive. For example, “those clothes which then get out of fashion” repeats the same idea, while “In this way” does not clearly show how the preceding point leads to waste. The second body paragraph also combines clothing waste, financial cost, social pressure, and respect, so its focus becomes broad. Grouping related ideas more tightly and using clearer links between cause and result would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “global fashion trends,” “financial burdens,” “bullied,” and “equal respect.” The reader can generally understand your concerns. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, especially “clothes,” “trendy,” and “global fashion trends.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “rich fellows,” “on the base of their dressing,” and “out of trend clothes.” These expressions make parts of the argument less fluent, even though the intended meaning is usually recoverable. Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated terms—for example, use “fashionable clothing,” “peer pressure,” or “judged by their appearance” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “when,” and “which,” and your meaning is generally understandable. However, errors occur across verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The global fashion has became” should use the past participle “become,” and “students … see there other rich fellows” has problems with the verb form and possessive reference. In “So it is a cause of trouble both for parents and childrens,” the plural form and sentence structure need correction. Some long sentences also contain several ideas joined together, making them harder to control. Practise accurate verb forms and agreement, and divide complex points into shorter, well-punctuated sentences.

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.