Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-01

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 5.5)

Some people believe that it is very common to estimate about person's belief, culture, tradition through judging their clothes. I partly agree with this view and discuss it following.

On the one hand, sometime it is possible to tell a lot about a person's culture and tradition through their dressing sense.

when someone wears formal dresses, expensive dress we can tell that it is from good background. another reason when someone wears simple loose clothes, people talk about he or she belongs to poor family. even some people can judge their character also. for instance such as village old ladies judge many girls about dressing because they are wearing western dress includes mini skirts, jeans and tops.

On the other hand, Everytime it is not possible to judge someone by their clothes such as when someone is in rush or has in emergency. a people wear simple or loose fit clothes while doing work because they are comfortable. but we cant judge them by their dressing sense. because it totally depend on individual how he or she feels comfortable. Furthermore we wear dress for ourself. somebody wants to show therefor they decide to wear expensive branded clothes. besides that we dont know where they belong.

In conclusion, I partly agree with this view someone we can tell about person's culture by their dressing sense but not everytime. because person has her or his own perspective on their clothes. most of the time it is misjudged. another thing we cant judge someone we dont have an right.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by providing a clear position of partial agreement. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. While you mention that clothes can indicate background or character, the arguments are repetitive and lack depth. For instance, the example regarding 'village old ladies' is relevant but could be better integrated to explain how cultural norms influence perception. To improve, focus on extending your arguments with more nuanced reasoning rather than listing simple observations. The conclusion restates your position, but the final sentence about 'not having a right' to judge is a new point that should have been developed in the body paragraphs rather than introduced at the very end.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which is a positive step. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or missing. Transitions like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are used correctly, but internal sentence linking is weak. Many sentences are fragmented or lack logical connectors, making the flow feel disjointed. For example, the transition between discussing formal dress and the 'village old ladies' example is abrupt. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in contrast') to create a smoother progression of ideas between and within paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'good background', 'simple', and 'clothes'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'estimate about person's belief' (should be 'make assumptions about') and 'dressing sense' (which is often used in Indian English but less standard in international contexts). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary related to the topic, such as 'socio-economic status', 'cultural identity', 'superficial judgment', or 'personal expression'. Expanding your range of synonyms will help you express your ideas with more clarity and impact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Common issues include missing articles ('a people wear', 'in emergency'), subject-verb agreement ('it totally depend'), and incorrect preposition usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences and missing commas. For example, 'when someone is in rush or has in emergency' is grammatically incorrect. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically ensuring that subjects and verbs agree and that articles are used correctly before nouns. Practising complex sentence structures will also help you demonstrate better control.

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

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