Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-04
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
In recent years, many small local shops have closed because customers travel to large shopping centres or malls to do their shopping.
Is this a positive or a negative development?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Nowadays, purchazing things from shopping centres rather than small local stores brcome trend. This eassy will expalin why this is positive develpment before sharing my view.
One of the major reason is cheap prices, large shopping centers and malls always offer products to their customer at cheap prices, they buy in bulk for producers. Therefore, for small shops owner it is impossible to match the price. In addition, in mall everything avalible under one roof such as clothes, grocery, electronics and so on. Consequently, rather than visiting multiple small shops for different things, people prefer to visit large shopping centres where evreything is avalible.
Moreover, visiting large malls is time saving option for shoppers. Where instead of wasting time in travel from one shop to other. Therefore, they just enter in one single large store shop what they want and come back home. Furthermore, large shopping centers always care branded products which have high standed of quality as well as warranty. As a result, people who give preference to brands rather than unbranded products they visit large malls.
In my opinion, while large shopping center offer cheap prices, high quality products, convenience to their customers , but this trend have negative influnce on small businesses. This big malls make it hard for small shops to survive in market.
In conclusion, undoubtedly with time the way of shopping change in past and this trend will continue in future too. Where in past people prefer to shop from small and local stores, now they give priority to large malls and in future they may be move to online shopping.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the shift toward shopping centres, but the position is inconsistent. While the introduction mentions it is a positive development, the body paragraphs focus on the benefits, but the conclusion fails to clearly state a final stance, instead shifting to a neutral observation about future trends. The ideas are relevant, such as price and convenience, but they are somewhat under-developed. The argument lacks a balanced view or a strong, sustained position, which is required for a higher band. To improve, ensure your opinion is clearly stated in the introduction and consistently supported throughout the essay.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For example, the use of 'Therefore' and 'Consequently' is sometimes repetitive or used in contexts where the logical connection is weak. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the sentence 'Where instead of wasting time in travel from one shop to other.' The paragraphing is present, but the transition between the benefits of malls and the negative impact on local shops is abrupt. Improving the use of cohesive devices and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several spelling errors, such as 'purchazing', 'brcome', 'eassy', 'expalin', 'develpment', 'avalible', 'evreything', and 'standed'. These errors are frequent and occasionally distract the reader. The range of vocabulary is limited to basic terms like 'cheap', 'good', and 'visit'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of topic-specific vocabulary and focus on accurate spelling. Using more sophisticated synonyms for common words would also demonstrate a better command of the language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('this trend have negative influnce'), missing articles, and awkward sentence construction ('large shopping centers always care branded products'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma splices and run-on sentences. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar limits the score. Focusing on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and sentence boundaries will significantly improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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