Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-07

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)

In recent decades, Individuals dressing is heavily influenced by global trends owing to increase reliance on social media. In my opinion, it is a negative aspect as it makes people forget about their culture norms and values, puts a stress in country's GDP. It largely has an impact on their mental health.

In a contemporary society, social media has become pervasive in our daily life's. People are influenced heavily by things they see on social platforms and want to adopt them. Social media makes people feel like they have to keep up with the trends. Every fashion they see on international TV shows or on social media influence them and they want to wear it which leads to buying of costly items. For instance social media destroys individuals body perception and they want to have a perfect hourglass figure like their ideal celebratory. Moreover, it has an effect on their mental well-being as they can't make decisions on their own and see the insecurities in themselves.

Furthermore, it destroys the cultural values of a society as they want to follow international culture. It decreases the local business. People often want global goods and harm their national trade effecting the economy. Additionally, cities produce the same cheap quality mass goods makes the fashion look identical everywhere reducing uniqueness.

Overall, increasing global fashion trends because of technological advancements is a risk to people's value, culture and effect their mental health. It also diminishes uniqueness and effect country's economy due to a surge in imports.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the influence of global fashion and whether this is a positive or negative development. You clearly state your position that it is a negative development. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the link between fashion trends and 'country's GDP' is mentioned but not explained with sufficient depth or logical connection. Similarly, the point about 'body perception' is introduced but lacks a clear link to the broader topic of global fashion trends. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully supported with clear, logical reasoning and specific examples rather than just listing potential negative impacts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', and 'Additionally' to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, and the connection between sentences can feel disjointed. For example, the transition between the influence of social media and the impact on mental health could be smoother. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the use of 'they' in the third paragraph, which makes it difficult to distinguish whether you are referring to the society or the individuals. Improving the variety and precision of your linking words would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'pervasive', 'contemporary society', and 'well-being'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'Individuals dressing' (should be 'The way individuals dress'), 'puts a stress in' (should be 'puts stress on'), and 'effect country's economy' (should be 'affect the country's economy'). You also repeat certain words like 'influence' and 'social media' frequently. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and synonyms to avoid repetition and ensure your vocabulary sounds more natural and academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'cities produce... makes the fashion look'), missing articles (e.g., 'puts a stress in country's GDP'), and incorrect pluralisation (e.g., 'daily life's'). There are also errors with word forms, such as using 'effect' as a verb instead of 'affect'. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points, they occur frequently enough to limit your score. Focusing on basic grammatical accuracy and proofreading for subject-verb agreement would be beneficial.

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