Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-19

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 some countries, people prefer purchasing many clothes. The possible cause of this trend is social media influences, economical sale offers and convenience. However, this can be minimized by educating consumers and teach them responsible shopping habits.

One of the most compelling reason, spending on clothes is commercial advertisments on social media. The sallers are showcasing utmost level of benefits of shopping new clothes through appealing adverts on the billboards, newpapers. Also posting commercials on television and YouTube videos with celebraties and appoint them as a band ambassador. Moreover, the selling markets are catching peoples attention through multiple discounts and sale offers. This may eventually cause an unnecessary buying of more clothes. Meanwhile, there are plenty of superstores and shopping mall available at nearest location so that it become convenient for buyers.

On the other hand, this can be minimise through some extent. There should have some awareness sessions in different community levels and providing knowledge upon investment for example, budget planning. People should encourage of buying cost effective and recyclable clothes so that it can be more environmental friendly which consumes lesser fabric material, fuel and electricity. Besides this education, there should a union council who work in charity purpose. For instance, There is a renowned Ismaili community living across the world. This community has it's own local council which serves many impoverished people in crises. During fund raising sessions, the donations are used in childrens education, health and economic wellbeing. This helps to make an ideal society.

Overall, the convenience and budget friendly shoppings with exciting offers provokes to purchase. This can eventually effect on personal and family budget. Therefore, leaders should come forward and reinforce new ways of spending money for the growth and development of every society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, identifying reasons for excessive clothing purchases (social media, sales, convenience) and offering solutions (education, awareness, community initiatives). However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and occasionally brief. For instance, the discussion on solutions touches on community councils and charities, but the link back to reducing clothing consumption is slightly obscured by the example itself. The position is generally clear throughout, but the depth of support places this firmly at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into logical paragraphs with a clear introduction and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'One of the most compelling reason', 'Moreover', and 'On the other hand', though some referencing and transitions are a bit mechanical or faulty, like 'this can be minimise through some extent'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate reasons from solutions, giving the overall text a coherent arrangement that fits the Band 6 descriptor well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items like 'compelling reason', 'commercial advertisments', and 'impoverished people'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'economical' instead of 'economic', 'sallers' instead of 'sellers', 'newpapers', 'celebraties', 'appoint them as a band ambassador' (brand), and 'shoppings'. These errors do not impede communication, allowing the response to secure a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'One of the most compelling reason, spending on clothes is commercial advertisments on social media.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including subject-verb agreement issues ('There should have some awareness sessions', 'there should a union council who work') and prepositional errors. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, they are frequent enough to prevent the writing from reaching Band 6.5.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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