Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

How you dress reflects how you live. Global fashion trends has indeed become a strong benchmark on people's dressing in day to day life. Now a days global fashion trends decide what people will wear, it is a positive development as most of people don't have decent dressing sense. This essay will discuss both positive and negative effects.

To begin with, The very most positive impact of influence by global fashion trends is people can easily follow the current trend. Many people struggle to find the right dress or proper outfit for various different occasions, but global fashion trends works as a benchmark and help people to figure out the way of dressing according to their needs. Another major impact is, most youth follow the same fashion trend, it helps every person to dress almost similarly and hence there is less discrimination in the way that people dress. For example Prada fashion week decide the trend of America.

On the contrary, many people cannot afford to follow the new trend frequently, global fashion trends create the fear of missing out amongst the youth which might lead to waste of money. Finally following the same fashion trend might create cultural discrimination. Moreover many countries have different clothing culture, following the same trends worldwide may not be appropriate for some people. For example, india has culture to wear saree and dresses, while western culture follows the trend of jeans and tops.

To conclude with, Every person has right to wear whatever suits them, global fashion trends give a benchmark to many people and it has more positive developments rather than negative developments.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that trends guide people who are unsure what to wear, and you give a broadly positive judgement while acknowledging costs and cultural concerns. However, the explanation of how fashion became influential is only partly developed; the essay mainly describes effects rather than explaining the sources of its influence, such as social media, advertising, or international brands. Some points also need clearer support. For instance, the claim that following similar trends reduces discrimination is asserted rather than explained, and the Prada example does not show how a fashion week determines trends in America. Your conclusion states a position, but “more positive developments” is not fully reconciled with the concerns raised. Develop and illustrate the central reasons more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph presenting benefits, a contrasting paragraph, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “To begin with,” “On the contrary,” and “To conclude” help readers follow the broad direction. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and the progression within paragraphs is not always smooth. The opening says the essay will discuss “both positive and negative effects,” although the task asks how the influence arose and whether it is positive or negative. In the second body paragraph, the move from affordability to cultural discrimination is abrupt, and “Finally” does not clearly connect the ideas. Use more precise links between claims and examples, and make each paragraph develop one main line of reasoning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “global fashion trends,” “benchmark,” “discrimination,” and “cultural.” This gives the response enough range to discuss the subject, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, several phrases are awkward or imprecise, which limits clarity and naturalness: “people’s dressing,” “the very most positive impact of influence,” and “create the fear of missing out amongst the youth.” Some wording is also repetitive, particularly repeated references to “global fashion trends” and “fashion trend.” Aim for more accurate collocations and a wider set of topic-specific expressions, such as “shape clothing choices,” “set style expectations,” or “pressure to keep up with trends.” Check spelling and capitalisation as well, including “nowadays” and “India.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “as,” “but,” and “while,” and the main ideas can usually be followed. However, errors in agreement, articles, sentence construction, and punctuation recur. For example, “Global fashion trends has” should use a plural verb, while “global fashion trends works … and help” contains inconsistent agreement. The sentence beginning “Another major impact is” is awkwardly constructed, and “most of people” needs an article or a different quantifier. Capitalisation and comma use are also inconsistent, as in “The” after “To begin with” and the comma splice in “Moreover many countries have different clothing culture, following…”. Review subject–verb agreement and practise joining related clauses accurately to make your varied sentence attempts more controlled.

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