Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-06

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 trends have ammended the ways, people use to dress. And today, the global fashion trends have strong influence on the lives of people across the globe and the way they dress.

People follow the global fashion trends from other cultures to look more adorable and modern. Here, in Pakistan, people follow the fashion trends of the west, to look more aesthetic and fashionable. The piercing trend from west has strongly influenced the fashion sense of people, in this region. They have followed the tounge piercing, mid-nose piercing, eyebrows' piercing etc. This was never the demand of the beauty standard in this region, but they follow the global trend to look up-to-date and modern. Same goes for the tattoos, earlier people used to be little religious and it was considered forbidden in the religion Islam. But as they get modernize they tend to follow this trend, and today, you will get to see plenty of boys and girls having tatoos on their arms,wrists,neck,chest or some having in the top back or some having it in the bottom back.

If you talk about clothing, the Pakistani traditional and cultural dress is shalwar & kameez, for both men and women. However, the men started wearing the jeans and suits following the west dressing trends from the 19th century, but in the last decade many females also started following the west dressing trends and today, you can see many of the females especially in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad wearing short dressings.

Although these global trends pushed people beyond the religious boundaries, they started caring for their looks and keep themselves up-to-date, which helps maintaining international fashion standards in the country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses both questions to some extent: it describes influences such as Western piercings, tattoos and clothing, and the final sentence suggests that global trends have benefits as well as costs. However, the explanation of how fashion became influential is mostly a list of examples; it does not explain the mechanisms behind its spread, such as social media, celebrities or international brands. The positive-or-negative judgement is also unclear. The phrase “pushed people beyond the religious boundaries” signals a concern, while “helps maintaining international fashion standards” sounds favourable, but the response does not state which view it supports or weigh the effects. Develop a clear position and explain the examples in relation to it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation: the opening introduces the topic, the next paragraph discusses piercings and tattoos, and a later paragraph turns to clothing. These topic shifts help the reader follow the main examples. However, the overall progression is limited because the response moves from examples to a brief concluding claim without a developed explanation of how global trends spread or a clear comparison of their effects. Linking phrases such as “Same goes for” and “If you talk about clothing” are conversational and do not always show the relationship between ideas precisely. The final sentence begins with “Although” but does not clearly complete a contrast. Use clearer paragraph purposes and transitions that connect each example to the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “fashion trends,” “traditional and cultural dress,” “religious boundaries” and “fashion standards.” These terms make the subject clear, and examples such as “tongue piercing” and “tattoos” are specific. However, several inaccurate or unnatural choices reduce precision: “ammended” does not fit the intended meaning, “more adorable” is unsuitable for describing a fashionable appearance, and “short dressings” is not a natural phrase for clothing. There are also spelling errors such as “tounge” and “tatoos.” Aim for accurate collocations and forms, for example “influenced the way people dress,” “stylish,” and “short dresses.” This would make the vocabulary more reliable and appropriate to an academic response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast introduced by “Although” and a relative clause in “which helps maintaining…”. Meaning is generally understandable, but control is uneven. For example, “the global fashion trends have strong influence” is missing an article, while “as they get modernize” has an incorrect verb form. The opening also uses an unnecessary sentence break after “And,” and the final clause after “Although” is structurally awkward. Long lists, such as the locations for tattoos, are not punctuated consistently. Practise accurate article use, verb forms and complete clause structures, and divide long sentences where needed. More consistently controlled complex sentences would make the argument easier to read.

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