Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-18

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)

Nowadays people around the globe are largely influenced by the global fashion trends and this can be seen easily through the way they get dressed. One of the main reasons of global fashion trend being so involved in everyday life is publicity through social media. I tend to believe, this is completely a negative development, the more a person is influenced by global trends the more their mental health is effected.

Social media has greatly influenced people to follow all the latest fashion trends. No matter they are worth it or not. Specially instagram holds an important role in the advertisment of brands. Brands make actors and other influencers there brand ambassedor. These people then promote their products in a very creative way that it become impossible for peoples to resist. Recently, In award show red carpet an actress is seen carrying a polyhthene bag worth more than 1000 dollars. Although it was not attrative at all but people bought it to match pace with the latest fashion followers. This is the power of social media, making worthless thing so much appealing to eyes that people tend to buy them.

Fashion trends have changed alot after 2010 and they are difficult to follow as well in terms of their cost and their awkward designing. But people irrespective of all this follow them blindly in order to not feel lagged behind. Participation in this race of fashion stresses people and it also results in mental healthh deterioration. As following global fashion trends are quite expensive and followers need to invest alot. In 2026, there is a trend of birkin bags and every woman wants to have it. But the one who are unable to buy birkin because of its price tend to get loan in order to follow the recent trend and not to feel left out.

To conclude, as far as i am concerned, global fashion trends have greatly influenced people in a negative way as they try to follow trend irrespective of its worth and this then leads to negtive impact on ones mental health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question: social media is identified as a key reason global fashion spreads, and your position that this is negative is clear in the introduction and conclusion. The examples of the expensive red-carpet bag and people borrowing money for Birkin bags make the discussion relevant and illustrate pressure to keep up. However, the explanation of how global fashion became influential is narrower than the task invites: social media and brand promotion are discussed, but other mechanisms, such as international retail, celebrity culture or online shopping, are not explored. The effects are also focused mainly on mental health, and some claims—such as the generalisation that every woman wants a Birkin—need qualification or support. Develop these points more evenly and explain the links between cause and impact.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The first body paragraph focuses on social-media promotion, while the second develops the pressure and financial consequences of following trends. Linking expressions such as “Although,” “But” and “To conclude” help signal relationships between ideas. At times, however, cohesion is mechanical or unclear. “No matter they are worth it or not” is left as a fragment, and “These people” refers back to actors and influencers but the connection could be made more smoothly. The second paragraph also moves from changing styles to stress and then debt without fully explaining each transition. Use complete topic sentences and clearer referencing, and connect each example explicitly to the paragraph’s main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “global fashion trends,” “brand ambassadors,” “latest fashion,” “mental health” and “feel left out.” These choices make your main ideas understandable, and phrases such as “follow them blindly” convey social pressure effectively. However, several spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural combinations reduce accuracy, including “advertisment,” “attrative,” “worthless thing” and “match pace with.” Some wording is also repetitive, particularly “follow” and “trend,” while “negative impact” is repeated in the conclusion. Aim for more precise collocations and vary key terms—for example, describe products as “poor value” rather than “worthless,” and use “keep up with” for matching current styles. Proofreading spelling and word forms would make your vocabulary more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “the more a person is influenced … the more their mental health is effected” and a concessive structure beginning “Although.” This shows some range, but errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles and punctuation are noticeable. “No matter they are worth it or not” is not a complete clause, and “it become impossible” does not agree with its subject. In “the one who are unable,” the verb does not agree with the singular subject; “a trend of Birkin bags” also needs a clearer grammatical construction. Commas are sometimes used where a full stop or conjunction is needed, as after “I tend to believe.” Practise accurate complex clauses and check agreement and sentence boundaries during editing.

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