Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-04
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)
Nowadays, people are dressing by being influenced by the global fashion trends. It is mainly due to globalization and the multiple tools such as social network sites that brings such strong influence on people's lives. I think there is both a positive and negative development towards this trend. In this essay we will discuss further on the topic.
Globalization has made our planet earth a small town, where anything can be reached within a click of a button. We rely on various social network sites to communicate and share cultures, values, and many more. For instance, people living in Nepal can connect with the people living with Canada, that is, if they both are connect on these social media sites such as, Facebook, Instagram etc. Therefore, fashion trends are growing and becoming famous worldwide.
The positive side of this trend is that it promotes cultural appropriation, unity in diversity and uplifting and motivating each other regardless of who you are and where you come from. For example, animal printed shirts, statement outerwear etc are all widely worn all around the world. Thus, it promotes the fact that humans are indeed social animals.
However, there is a downside of this situation. Due to such quick dynamic trends, it can bring competitive emotions on peoples mind by wanting to follow the trends as opposed to just wearing what they have. This can be huge problems to people who have tight income spending's. Alongside, certain trends cannot be participated by certain culture. For example, many culture may find it unappealing to wear statement t-shirts, revealing clothes and excessive accessories. Hence, such trends can brings more harm than good toward a person, their family and their culture.
In conclusion, I do believe that globalization brings a positive development in global fashion trend but there are some facts that can be downside of such trend.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the influence of global fashion and the evaluation of this trend. The position is clear, though the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'cultural appropriation' is mentioned but not clearly explained in the context of fashion trends, and the discussion on 'competitive emotions' is a good point that could have been expanded with more specific examples. While the essay covers all parts of the task, the supporting arguments lack depth and the conclusion is a bit repetitive, failing to fully synthesize the points made in the body paragraphs.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'For instance', 'Therefore', 'However', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel abrupt. For example, the jump from discussing social media to the positive side of fashion could be smoother. Referencing is generally clear, though the use of 'this' to refer back to previous ideas is sometimes slightly ambiguous. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent, but the essay would benefit from more sophisticated linking words to improve the logical flow between sentences.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common items like 'cultural appropriation' and 'dynamic trends', though some word choices are slightly inaccurate or awkward, such as 'competitive emotions on peoples mind' or 'tight income spending's'. The term 'cultural appropriation' is likely used incorrectly here, as it usually refers to the adoption of elements of a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, rather than a positive promotion of unity. Improving precision and collocation would help elevate the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'people are dressing by being influenced', 'if they both are connect', and 'many culture may find'. Punctuation errors, such as missing apostrophes ('peoples mind') and incorrect pluralization ('spending's'), are also present. These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles and plural forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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