Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries nowadays, consumers can go to a supermarket and buy food produced all over the world.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

There is an ongoing trend acorss the countries, In these days customers go to a supermarket and purcahsed food made throuhout the world. In my opinion there are some benefits outweigh drawbacks, in this essay i will explain both aspects of the new behaviour towards shopping.

On the one hand, the population is exceptionally growing around the world and local communities are moving to urban areas. Therefore, cities are planning new projects for their citizens to provide them a number of facilities in a single place, while supermarket are the part of advanced city structure. In this way this a crucial development for the people. For Instance, Individuals can buy more type of foreign foods related to their groceries, or foods in a single supermarket, especially those who are living inside the modern cities, they can safe their and time to visit their and buy foods according to their choice.

On the other hand, the huge markets are affecting local business community because a significant number global citizens preffer supermarket instead of local shops. The supermarkets are directly dominant on local shops to provide a variety of goods on cheap prices because they are having direct connections to the production houses, while sometime they offer free material for advertisement to influence the public attention across the community to buy their products. For example, the local business owners spend a huge amount to bring the products from the third party and sell it on high prices. In fact the competition between big markets, and large markets create detrimental impact on small shops.

In conclusion, the attraction of supermarket is ntaural and people want to access multiple food items in a single place which is beneficial for the people, meanwhile the current tendency of shopping is going to create pressure across the local business community.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the question by presenting both benefits and drawbacks, and your conclusion makes your overall view clear: supermarkets offer convenience, although they put pressure on local businesses. The discussion of access to a wider range of food and the effect of large retailers on small shops is relevant. However, the position is not fully consistent: the introduction says benefits outweigh drawbacks, while the conclusion mainly balances the two without clearly reaffirming that judgement. Some points also need fuller explanation. For instance, the link between urban growth and the need for international food is not made explicit, and the claim that supermarkets provide “free material for advertisement” is unclear. Develop each main reason with a more direct explanation or a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs signalled by “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the argument. However, some connections between ideas are mechanical or unclear. The first body paragraph moves from population growth to urban planning and then to supermarket convenience without fully showing how these points relate. In the second, “while sometime” introduces a point whose connection to the previous claim is difficult to follow. Referencing is also occasionally confusing, as in “they can safe their and time.” To improve, make each paragraph’s central point explicit and use linking phrases only where the relationship between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “local business community,” “variety of goods,” “competition,” and “detrimental impact.” These choices help communicate the contrast between supermarkets and small shops. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “acorss,” “purcahsed,” “preffer,” and “ntaural.” Some combinations are also unnatural or imprecise: “foods related to their groceries,” “safe their and time,” and “dominant on local shops” make the intended meaning less clear. Aim for accurate, natural collocations rather than more elaborate phrasing. For example, “save time,” “compete with local shops,” and “a wider range of imported food” would express your ideas more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, using clauses with “because,” “while,” and “therefore,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, control is uneven, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “In my opinion there are some benefits outweigh drawbacks” has an incorrect clause structure, while “the population is exceptionally growing” and “supermarket are the part” show problems with verb form and subject–verb agreement. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention: the opening joins several ideas with commas, and “For Instance” is followed by a sentence that becomes difficult to follow. Practise building complex sentences around one clear main clause, and check agreement, articles, verb forms, and punctuation before submitting.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.