Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-24

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

It is often argued that a few people can judge other's culture and character from their selection of clothes whereas others believe its hard to recognise people's culture or character by the way they dress-up. I strongly agree that it is possible to guess individual's culture/character from their clothes choices because people often express themselves in a form of wearing dresses according to their culture.

One of the principal reasons is that the individual's way of dressing arises from their parent's culture. Everybody is born in a different and unique environment which is connected to his culture. The majority of people choose to wear the type of clothes, which they have been wearing since their childhood and eventually their dressing sense doesn't develop further. As a result, people become more comfortable and adaptable to their culture. Additionally, it also becomes easier to analyse people's character from the type of dress they wear. For example, a girl coming from a lower-income family might wear cheap and torn clothes but a girl coming from a wealthy family might wear a short or a long beautiful attractive pink dress. This demonstrates the two different kinds of backgrounds on the basis of their clothes.

Another principal reason is that people are unknowingly connected to their roots. If a person tries to adapt to a new dressing sense, he won't succeed because the roots of his culture and habit are still embedded which is difficult to mitigate. Consequently, people think when they get rich, they will change their clothes selection to evolve but money can't buy class or change someone's culture. For instance, first thing that poor people change after earning money is their way of dressing without realising that the roots of their culture and character won't evolve.

In conclusion, although some people can't tell about other people's culture or character from their choice of clothes, I agree that it is very easy to identify the origin, culture or character of people from the way they dress-up. Moreover, it might get changed in the future but the traces of the culture would still be immersed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the influence of upbringing and socioeconomic status on clothing choices. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, particularly in the second and third paragraphs, where the argument about 'roots' and 'culture' is restated without significant new insight. The example provided regarding a girl from a lower-income family versus a wealthy family is a bit stereotypical and lacks nuance, which limits the depth of the analysis. To reach a higher band, you should aim to explore the complexity of the topic, perhaps acknowledging that modern fashion trends or personal style can sometimes obscure cultural or character traits.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'One of the principal reasons,' 'Additionally,' and 'Consequently' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as the use of 'it' in the opening sentence, which lacks a clear antecedent. The flow between sentences is generally smooth, but the repetition of ideas within paragraphs slightly hinders the overall progression of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'embedded' and 'mitigate,' though 'mitigate' is used slightly inaccurately in the context of habits. There are also some minor word-choice errors, such as 'wearing dresses' (which is specific to female clothing) instead of 'wearing clothes' or 'attire.' The range is sufficient to convey the message, but it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score. Improving collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing would enhance this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a few people' instead of 'some people'), subject-verb agreement ('the first thing that poor people change... is'), and punctuation. For instance, 'dress-up' is used as a noun, which is incorrect; it should be 'dressing' or 'the way they dress.' Despite these errors, the grammar does not impede communication. To improve, focus on mastering article usage and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with greater accuracy.

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

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