Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-11

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)

Global fashion have an immense impact on people dressing sense, that is mainly because the world is a global village and everyone gets to know what is in trend.

Due to social media extensive usage worldwide, people are looking at their favourite celebrities, icons, brands pages, ads of products which leads them to their website and they can buy the product at a click.

If you are not updated in terms of fashion, and you wear something out of trend, you shall be perceived as a black sheep or someone who lives under a rock. therefore, it is quite a compulsion now to be updated about fashion.

People has taken it quite intensively, which has lead today's generation to reach at the peak of consumerism. People are going broke due to peer pressure of looking exceptional in all way possible. As the inflation has taken over the economy, people who are not well off feels completely abandoned by society because they can not keep up with such trends of fashions. For instance, I do not like dressing up that much every time i am going out hence, i feel compelled to dress well or expensive, due to peer pressure and society's fashion norms.

This is absolutely a negative development of fashion into people's lives. There is no need to buy everything that is in trend or worn by your favourite celebrity.

People should feel comfortable in their skin and just focus on developing their brain instead of their wardrobes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, identifying social media as a key driver and expressing a clear negative stance. However, the development is limited. The essay is slightly under the 250-word minimum, which impacts the depth of the argument. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat repetitive, particularly regarding peer pressure. To improve, you should expand on your examples and ensure a more balanced exploration of the 'influence' aspect before concluding. The under-length penalty is applied here, as the response fails to meet the basic requirement for a full-length essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is somewhat disjointed. While some cohesive devices are used (e.g., 'Due to', 'For instance', 'therefore'), they are sometimes used incorrectly or in a way that makes the flow feel mechanical. The transition between the causes of fashion influence and the negative impacts is abrupt. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks a clear topic sentence followed by supporting evidence. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring each paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed idea would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands. You use some relevant terms like 'consumerism', 'inflation', and 'compulsion', but there are also instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'people dressing sense' (should be 'people's sense of dress') and 'looking exceptional in all way possible'. The range is sufficient to convey your meaning, but there is little evidence of less common lexical items or precise collocations. To reach a higher band, focus on using more academic vocabulary and ensuring your word choices are natural and accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('Global fashion have', 'People has taken', 'people who are not well off feels') and punctuation errors (e.g., missing capital letters for 'i', and run-on sentences). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader. To improve, focus on basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for minor slips in sentence construction and punctuation.

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