Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-20
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)
It is believed that global fashion trends influence the dressing senses of people at the present times in many aspects.
Global fashion has a huge impact on the people because of the advancement of the communication system worldwide. In my perspective, this impact is surely a negative trend.
Earlier, people were lagging behind to keep up with the global fashion. However, this situation has been changed due to the development made in the communication sector. Nowadays, people can know about any ongoing trends at an instant from any part of the world. As a result, people are seen following those fashion to be updated and modernized. In fact, people do not want to fall behind from the fashion trend which is followed by the people of first world countries. For instance, the people of Bangladesh are seen wearing modern dresses instead of the traditional ones.
Consequently, the way people are dressing today has obviously a negative impact. First of all, the people are forgetting about the traditional dresses which carry the unique identities of the local culture. Those dresses are one of the things which makes a country stand out from other countries. If the people of a certain nation stop wearing their local dresses, those dress will not be manufactured like before and soon it will be stopped at once, which is a great loss for that nation. For example, in Bangladesh, local clothings, such as, sharee and panjabi are not worn by the people like before. Unfortunately, this number is decreasing day by day.
In conclusion, even though people are now being influenced by the globalization whose reflection can be observed in their dressing senses, this development is bringing misfortune to the local traditions.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| 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 as negative. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While the impact of communication technology is mentioned, the explanation of how it influences fashion could be more detailed. The argument regarding the loss of cultural identity is relevant and supported by a specific example from Bangladesh, but the discussion could benefit from further depth to reach a higher band. Overall, the response covers all requirements but remains somewhat superficial in its analysis.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the causes from the consequences. Cohesive devices such as 'Consequently', 'First of all', and 'In fact' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'those dress' (should be plural) and 'this number' (referring back to a concept rather than a specific noun). Despite these minor lapses, the progression of ideas is easy to follow throughout the text.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common items like 'modernized' and 'globalization', but the range is somewhat limited. Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'dressing senses' (better as 'fashion sense' or 'style') and 'misfortune to the local traditions' (better as 'detrimental to local traditions'). Spelling is generally accurate, but the range of vocabulary is not sufficiently wide or sophisticated to reach the higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'people were lagging behind to keep up' (awkward phrasing), 'those dress will not be manufactured' (subject-verb agreement error), and 'the people are forgetting about the traditional dresses' (unnecessary article). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. The control of punctuation is generally good, but the grammatical accuracy is inconsistent across the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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