Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-16

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)

In recent years, many local shops are facing the closure because of the decreasing number of customers, who choose to shop from large shopping centres or malls. I strongly consider it as a positive development for the country as well as for individuals since it opens the new doors of employment, build intercultural relationships, and raise the economy of the country.

First and foremost, the most significant reason behind considering the closure of local shops, and increasing trend of shopping malls as a positive development is growth in employment rate. Let us take the difference in the number of workers in small shops, and in big malls for instance which makes it clear that how the expansion of shopping malls opens the opportunities for work. Moreover, due to this factor the unemployment reduces to a greater extent. In addition, the other most important factor is building of good intercultural relationships. For instance, the shopping malls provides a greater range of western products which opens the doors for overseas business. It not only introduce their culture in our country, but also helps in the economic growth to a greater extent.

Moreover, increasing trend of shopping malls provides recognition to the local brands. Let us take the most popular MDH spices brand for instance which was limited to a small shop without any brand name, but once the owner decided to take the product to shopping malls, it becomnes popular worldwide.

To conclude, shift in customers interest from local shops to shopping malls helps to grow the country,s economy, increase the employment rate as well as provides recognition to small business worldwide which really makes this shift a positiv

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear, well-supported position that the closure of local shops in favour of shopping malls is a positive development. The writer introduces distinct main ideas to support this stance, such as employment growth, intercultural relationships, and global recognition for local brands. The arguments are generally well extended, although the supporting examples, such as the mention of MDH spices, could have been elaborated further to reach a higher level of development. Overall, the position is maintained throughout, meeting the requirements for a Band 7 performance under this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The response opens with a defined introduction containing a clear thesis statement, followed by distinct body paragraphs and a concluding sentence. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude' are used to structure the ideas effectively. Paragraphing is managed appropriately, although referencing and transitions can occasionally feel slightly mechanical, as seen with repetitive connectors like 'Moreover'. Nevertheless, the overarching structure ensures the reader can follow the argument with ease, aligning with a Band 7 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow for flexibility and precision, employing terms like 'intercultural relationships', 'economic growth', and 'unemployment reduces'. There are attempts to use less common items with varying degrees of success. However, there are minor lexical inaccuracies, such as 'building of good intercultural relationships' instead of 'fostering cultural exchange', and a typographical error with 'becomnes'. Despite these occasional lapses, the vocabulary is adequate for the task and does not impede communication, comfortably placing the response in Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as '...customers, who choose to shop from large shopping centres...'. However, there are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including article misuse ('facing the closure', 'raise the economy of the country'), subject-verb agreement issues ('the shopping malls provides'), and punctuation errors like the comma splice in the conclusion ('country,s economy'). While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede overall communication, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 6 performance.

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