Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-22

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 7.5)

Increasing popularity of large shopping centres has led to the closure of many small local shops. Although it provides a better shopping experience to the individual customers, I believe it is largely a negative development because it contributes to harms local businesses, weakens community realtionships and cause environmental pollution.

Many individuals prefer to shop at large shopping centres because they provide them with large range of products and multiple shopping options under one roof. Since they can buy both personal and household goods at the same mall, without travelling to different shops in search of their goods, it improves their overall shopping experience. For instance, Square One shopping centre provides customers a one-stop place to buy all the items ranging from groceries to makeup as it has all kinds of shops within the complex.

Converssely, this trend has negatively influenced small local shops which have limited varieties and resources. When many people choose to shop at large malls, small businesses are eventually forced to close, which creates a formidable effect on local economies. In addition, smalls shops are part of a neighbourhood's chararcter, because many sellers know customers personally and provide a personalized service. When these businesses are overtaken by large corporations, it weaken social interactions. Furthermore, since the giant malls heavily depend upon international trade, this practice is associated with higher plastic wastage, carbon footprints and transport emissions, which significantly escalate environmental pollution.

In conclusion, while recent shopping practices involving huge malls offer convenience and riveting experiences to individual customers, they negatively impact local economies, local communities and the environment. Therefore, in my opinion this phenomenon is largely undesirable as long-term effects of losing small businesses outweigh the benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the trend is negative. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, particularly the discussion on the loss of community character and environmental impact. The introduction clearly states the writer's stance, and the conclusion reinforces it. To reach a higher band, the student could provide more nuanced examples or explore the counter-argument (the benefits of malls) in slightly more depth to demonstrate a more sophisticated level of critical thinking. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the question asked.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the transition between the benefits of malls and the negative impacts on local shops is smooth. Cohesive devices such as 'For instance', 'Conversely', and 'Furthermore' are used effectively to link sentences and paragraphs. The paragraphing is appropriate and contributes to the overall clarity of the argument. The flow of ideas is natural, and the reader can easily follow the writer's line of reasoning throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. The student uses some good collocations like 'formidable effect' and 'personalized service'. However, there are some minor spelling errors such as 'realtionships', 'chararcter', and 'Converssely'. Additionally, some phrasing is slightly awkward, such as 'contributes to harms local businesses' (should be 'contributes to harming'). While the range is adequate to convey the message clearly, more precise or sophisticated vocabulary would be needed to reach the highest bands. The errors do not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over most grammatical forms, but there are some recurring errors. For example, 'it provides a better shopping experience' (subject-verb agreement with 'shopping centres'), 'cause environmental pollution' (should be 'causes'), and 'it weaken social interactions' (should be 'weakens'). Despite these occasional slips, the majority of sentences are error-free, and the meaning is always clear. The punctuation is generally accurate, and the sentence variety is sufficient to maintain the reader's interest.

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

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