Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12
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 5.0)
Many aspects of the way individuals dress nowadays are influenced by global fashion trends. It has become such a strong influence on people's lives because style of peer pressure and social acceptance. I think this is a negative development because of the negative effect it has on people.
One of the reasons why global fashion trends has a huge influence on people is peer pressure. This is because people can be easily initiated by their mates. In other words, peer pressure has made a lot of people to do the unthinkable by forcing themselves into what they are not capable of. For instance, a high school girl from a low economic class will feel pressure to buy the lastest trending wears because her mate has it. Therefore, people feel pressure by their mates when they wear the lasted fashion outfit.
Social acceptance is another reason why worldwide fashion trends has control on people's lives. This is because people want to fit in to the society. In other words, they seek validation in their outfit by meeting up with the latest fashion style. For example, a banker who dresses always to impress her colleagues by purchasing the latest designer wears. As a result, global fashion trends make people to seek validation in their outfits.
In conclusion, global fashion trends influence the way people dress nowadays in may aspects. I think this is a negative development as it has a strong influence on their lives because of peer pressure and social validation.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses both parts of the task by identifying peer pressure and social acceptance as reasons for the influence of global fashion, and clearly states a position that this is a negative development. However, the ideas lack full development and depth. For instance, the discussion on peer pressure relies heavily on repetition rather than extending the argument with varied examples. The conclusion also briefly mentions that it is a negative development without adding new insights. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed, aligning well with the Band 5 descriptors where ideas are somewhat limited and repetitive.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a clear overall structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and uses paragraphing appropriately. However, progression is somewhat impaired by repetitive phrasing and mechanical cohesive devices, such as the frequent use of 'This is because' and 'In other words'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, for example in the sentence 'style of peer pressure', which disrupts the flow of ideas. While the overall arrangement is coherent, the heavy reliance on rigid templates prevents the score from reaching a higher band.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'economic class', 'designer wears', and 'social validation'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'style of peer pressure', 'initiated by their mates' (instead of influenced or pressured), and 'lastest trending wears' (with a spelling error and unnatural phrasing). These inaccuracies and repetitive vocabulary items mean the response sits comfortably within the Band 5 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'One of the reasons why global fashion trends has a huge influence on people is peer pressure.' However, grammatical control is inconsistent, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('trends has', 'people feel pressure... when they wear'), awkward prepositional use, and awkward phrasing like 'make people to seek validation'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they cause noticeable difficulty for the reader and reflect typical Band 5 characteristics.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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