Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-15

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 6.5)

It is widely acknowledged that in some parts of the world, people excessively shop clothing items. The mindset of individuals and the poor quality of fabric are significant contributors to the rise in this trend. Lifestyle bloggers and government strategies could play a key role in making the masses aware of the benefits of sustainability.

There has been a change in the attitude of individuals. On a psychological level, wardrobe is associated with a higher social status. Hence, anyone seen wearing a repeated outfit is perceived as inferior. To cater the increasing demand of clothes, clothing companies are mass producing new items. As a result, they focus on quantity rather than quality. This entices people to shop more, in order to keep their wardrobe up to date. For example, every time H&M launches a new collection the clothes get out of stock really fast, despite the launches being very frequent. Therefore, indicating how a new collection regardless of innovation in design or a need by consumer is widely brought just own something from the latest release,

Lifestyle bloggers can use their influence and help in promoting sustainability. For instance, they could actively make social media posts explaining viewers how different combinations could be made by styling the very same items that are already present in their wardrobe. Governments could employ strategies that offer financial incentives towards recycling clothes. For instance, they could make it mandatory for every clothing store to have a tailor, particularly expert in repairing clothes. The service charges should be affordable. As a result, people will place a greater preference for repairing and restyling clothes instead of investing in new.

In conclusion, people purchase far too many clothes for reasons like displaying wealth by never being seen in a repeated outfit and due to the fast fashion trend. Lifestyle influencers and Governments could offer better alternatives strategies to help decrease this habit in the individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the task. For the first prompt, the student identifies clear reasons for excessive clothes shopping, such as the psychological association between wardrobes and social status, and the mass production of fast fashion items. For the second prompt, viable solutions are proposed, including the use of lifestyle bloggers to promote sustainability and government strategies like financial incentives for recycling and mandating store tailors. The ideas are well-extended and supported with relevant examples, such as the H&M new collection reference. There is a clear position maintained throughout the essay. The task is handled competently, earning a solid band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organised, with a clear progression from introduction to body paragraphs discussing reasons and solutions respectively, and concluding with a summary. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct theme. Cohesive devices are employed reasonably well, using transitional phrases like 'On a psychological level', 'As a result', and 'For instance'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become slightly awkward or faulty, such as in the sentence 'Therefore, indicating how a new collection regardless of innovation in design or a need by consumer is widely brought just own something from the latest release,' which contains a fragment and grammatical disjointedness. Overall, the organisation is clear and logical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items and topic-specific terms such as 'sustainability', 'fast fashion', 'psychological level', and 'financial incentives'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher band, such as 'excessively shop clothing items' instead of 'shop for excessive amounts of clothing', 'to cater the increasing demand' instead of 'to cater to', and 'widely brought just own something' instead of 'widely bought just to own something'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary remains generally relevant to the prompt.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures including conditional and participial clauses. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'shop clothing items', 'to cater the increasing demand', and the run-on sentence fragment ending the second paragraph ('Therefore, indicating how a new collection...'). Punctuation and article usage also show occasional lapses. Nevertheless, there are frequent error-free sentences, and the errors do not impede overall communication. The control of grammar aligns well with the descriptors for Band 6.

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