Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some parts of the world, people buy far too many clothes.

What are the reasons for this?
How can people be persuaded to reduce the number of clothes they buy?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In this modern era, buying a new clothes is trend for people. This is mostly happening in western countries. To reduce of purchase of number of clothes by public awareness and change in marketing of clothing and sold.

There are numerous of reasons for people to buy a new clothes are First, people are more influence by social media and fashion. Many people are follow the fashion trend and look different from others and follow the new styles of fashion by expose of media. In addition, clothing is less expensive nowadays because of the changes of trends and fast growth of fashion. Stores offers more discount and sales to attract people to buy according trend and encourage them to look more attractive with fashion even they no need to buy due to there wardrobe is already full with clothes. Another reason is shopping is more entertainment for some people. They only buy attractive or sales discount rather than actually need.

There are many ways to aware the people to buy less. Firstly, government and schools could educate people about environmental impact of excessive clothing production. The industry use more water and energy for production and waste the resources more than need. Secondly, clothing industries could be encouraged to produce more quality products instead of quantity. Government also have to launch new incentives techniques for recycling and repairing clothes.

As individuals can also change their habits of buying products. They can buy quality rather than fashioned products .

To conclude, excessive clothing is mainly caused by new fashion trends, social media and because of purchasing habits of people. As to tackle this, people have to change their buying habits and better education and fashion companies can make better quality rather to focus on more fashioned, helps to protect environment as well as reduce number of unnecessary buyers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for excessive clothing consumption and potential solutions. The ideas are relevant, such as the influence of social media, fast fashion, and the role of government/education. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'shopping as entertainment' is mentioned but not fully explored. The position is clear throughout, but the overall depth of the arguments is more characteristic of a Band 5.5 or 6.0, as some points remain slightly under-developed and the conclusion is a bit repetitive.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the flow of ideas. There is a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'There are numerous of reasons' or 'As individuals can also change'. Some transitions between sentences feel abrupt, and the referencing is occasionally unclear. While the overall progression is logical, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the repetitive structure of the opening sentences of each paragraph limit the score to a 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'buying a new clothes' (should be 'buying new clothes'), 'sold' (used as a noun), and 'more attractive with fashion even they no need to buy'. The student relies on basic vocabulary and struggles with pluralization and article usage. To reach a higher band, the student needs to use more precise collocations related to the topic, such as 'consumerism', 'sustainable practices', or 'disposable income'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in grammar, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('Stores offers'), article usage ('a new clothes'), and sentence fragments ('To reduce of purchase...'). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are persistent and occur throughout the text. The student attempts complex structures, but they are often faulty, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for pluralization would significantly improve the clarity.

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