Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-26

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 6.5)

Nowadays, people prefer to do shopping from huge shopping malls instead of small local shops as a result of which small shops experience huge loss and eventually owners have to shut down those shops completely. Shopping malls provide huge deals to attract people which is advantageous however, uniqueness of a product can be missed which is a negative development.

To begin with, shopping malls are becoming one stop destination for customers as they can find everything at one place. For instance, for any family that consists of people of different age can find clothes of various sizes at one place where as some small shops have clothes available only for children and others might have it only for adults as a result of which they have to visit different shops and it can be time consuming. Also, in big malls there are offers available for the whole year which makes it economical for shoppers to buy any product. For instance, offers like buy one get one free or 50% off on any product is advantageous because for a family of four, it becomes easy to mix and match items and get it on discounted price. However, small shops usually do not have this kind of huge discounts unless they are closing permanently.

Conversely, people can find unique home decor or furniture items in small local shops and not in malls. Local shops have handcrafted items like flower vases or hand designed bedsheets and sofa covers made by local artists whereas this items available in malls are machine made and usually manufactured in bulk which is missing a human touch and therefore, uniqueness of an item can not be felt. Therefore, people should support items from local shops as it can not help the shop owners but also artists who makes the product. And if these shops shut down completely people will miss art and only find similar products everywhere which will be a negative development.

In conclusion, shopping from malls is advantageous to get great deal on products however we should keep supporting local shops as it can provide unique items as well as good customers service.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages of malls and the importance of local shops, ultimately taking a balanced position. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, particularly the comparison between the convenience of malls and the uniqueness of local goods. However, the position could be more explicitly stated in the introduction; currently, it is somewhat buried in the final sentence of the first paragraph. To reach a higher band, ensure the thesis statement clearly outlines the writer's stance on whether this is a positive or negative development from the outset.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Conversely', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, there are some instances of mechanical or slightly repetitive transitions, such as the frequent use of 'for instance' and 'as a result of which'. The flow between sentences is generally smooth, but the referencing could be more precise in places to avoid minor ambiguity. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and contributes to a coherent progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'economical', 'handcrafted', and 'manufactured in bulk'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation, such as 'do shopping' (should be 'go shopping' or 'shop') and 'get it on discounted price' (should be 'at a discounted price'). Expanding the range of synonyms and improving collocations would help elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are recurring grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the uniqueness', 'the shop owners') and subject-verb agreement ('artists who makes the product'). Punctuation is generally functional, though some sentences are slightly run-on, which could be improved by using more varied punctuation like semicolons or better-placed commas. The majority of sentences are understandable, but the frequency of minor errors prevents a higher score.

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