Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-05

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 6.0)

Local small businesses are closed over the past time as customers are choosing big shopping centres or malls. This trend has some pros like available of everything and affordability while there is also some negative impact like travelling far and unexpected purchases. However, the positive development outweighs the negative one.

Starting with the negative part. First, these big malls are only in some part of the cities which makes is difficult to reach for many individuals, as a result one have to travel longer even if they have to buy simple snack. Furthermore, these mig malls use some psychology which attract shoppers to buy items which they do not have intention to buy. Using some discount or give more space to the items which attract customers. For instance, many people go to have basic groceries end up buying many other things due to discounts or have much attention as they were at front of them all the time which tempted them to buy it.

Even though there are the some negatives parts, we do have many positive aspects. First, these big shopping malls carry almost everything, one does not have to go to five different places. So even if one spend longer time in travel, having everything in one places still saves time. Secondly, these malls are extremely cheap in comparison with small local shops as they make money to sell more. Hence individual save money on everything. For example, if I go to local shop, it always charge me 20-30% higher than big malls, so I avoid the small local shops.

To conclude, it is true that many small businesses have closed due to this people have to travel longer and sometimes buy unexpected items, the benefits are much greater, which are having everything at one place and getting cheap price.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the positive development outweighs the negative. The ideas are relevant, covering both the drawbacks (inconvenience, impulse buying) and the benefits (convenience, affordability). However, the development of these ideas is somewhat basic. For example, the explanation of 'psychology' in malls is a bit vague and could have been more precisely articulated. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting arguments would benefit from more depth and sophisticated analysis to reach a higher band. Overall, the task is fulfilled, but the level of detail remains at a functional rather than an analytical level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. The progression of ideas is easy to follow, moving from the negative aspects to the positive ones, and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices such as 'Starting with', 'Furthermore', 'Even though', and 'To conclude' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing (e.g., 'due to this people' is slightly awkward). Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the overall structure supports the argument well, though the flow could be smoother with more varied linking phrases.

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 'intention to buy' and 'tempted', but the range is somewhat limited. Some word choices are slightly imprecise or repetitive, such as 'big malls' and 'small local shops' appearing frequently. There are also minor errors in word formation, such as 'available of everything' instead of 'availability of everything'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and a wider variety of synonyms to avoid repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'one have to travel', 'these mig malls use'), article usage, and pluralization (e.g., 'some negative impact', 'some positive aspects'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some run-on sentences and minor errors that slightly distract the reader. The control of complex structures is inconsistent, and while the errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score in this criterion.

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