Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-06

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 today's modern scenario, everyone wants to follow a trend around them and feel included in world. Consequently, in some parts of the world people buy clothes every other day for the sake of trend going forward. Most importantly, teenagers population spend more on clothing and buys more clothes than adults do. Among teenagers, being popular and building identity is common, so, they buy without thinking twice. This essay will provide suggestions how to influence people around the world to buy less.

The first and foremost suggestion is to educate people about the resources and materials that are being overused and how it impacts the environment. Telling people about how much waste is produced and how much water is used for the production of clothes,will bring awareness among them. If they will get to know about how harmful it is for the environment, they will buy less. People in general care about environment.

Another suggestion which can influence people to buy less is to stop businesses from producing the copies of high end brands and marking as illegal production. Because the copies of brands can be bought easily than original. People following the trend are more likely to buy the copies of big brands. By doing this, not only the legacy of the original brand is maintained but also will prevent people from buying unnecessarily. High end brands make products by taking environment in grant, yet the businesses who produce copies do not care for environment but only about their profit.

Thus,there can be multiple reasons why in some parts of world people buy more. By doing research, one can find the main causes and implement the plan accordingly.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by identifying reasons for excessive clothing purchases and offering suggestions to reduce this behavior, fulfilling the core requirements of the task. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven across the essay. For instance, while the first body paragraph touches on education and environmental impact, it remains brief and lacks concrete examples or detailed elaboration. Furthermore, the second part of the essay focuses predominantly on counterfeit goods rather than a broader exploration of how people can be persuaded to buy fewer clothes overall. The conclusion merely repeats ideas rather than effectively summarising the main points. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully extend and support all ideas with specific explanations and relevant real-world examples throughout the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents some overall organisation, with an introductory paragraph, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and it attempts to guide the reader using cohesive devices such as 'Consequently', 'Most importantly', and 'The first and foremost suggestion'. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes disjointed. For example, the transition between discussing teenagers and introducing the essay's aim in the introduction feels a bit abrupt. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is not always completely clear. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved to ensure a smoother, more logical flow of thoughts from one sentence to the next. Developing a stronger logical progression and varying cohesive devices more naturally would enhance the overall readability.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing enough range to discuss the topic of fashion trends and environmental impact. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'scenario', 'identity', and 'legacy', but these attempts are accompanied by notable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'taking environment in grant' instead of 'taking the environment for granted', and 'marking as illegal production'. There are also occasional phrasing awkwardness and minor spelling or lexical slips that reflect a restricted command of vocabulary. To improve, the writer should focus on expanding their range of functional synonyms, mastering standard collocations related to environmental sustainability and consumer habits, and ensuring precise word forms in different contexts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms. These complex structures are frequently faulty, containing errors such as missing articles ('feel included in world', 'for the sake of trend going forward'), awkward clause constructions ('If they will get to know'), and punctuation errors like missing spaces after commas. Frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and singular-plural agreement are noticeable throughout the response, occasionally causing some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, the writer must increase their control over complex sentence patterns, ensure accurate subject-verb agreement and article usage, and eliminate frequent basic grammatical slips.

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

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