Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-17

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)

In recent times, people go to shopping malls or cantres to buy something which leads to closing of small local shops. I think it is a negative development because it affects on financial conditions of small vendors and their family.

First of all, customers travel to huge shopping centres or mall to do their shopping because at these places everything is available. People can buy everything from only one place which saves the time as well as fuel cost. The availibility of various brands at low cost influence consumers to buy from them. Additionally, a wide range of variety of products and a good customers service plays an important role to attract customers.

On the other hand, so many local shops have been down because of this trend. Their only way of earning has been closed which leads to poor economy of that area. Their children can not get enough facilities and education due to their financial condition. People forget to buy an artistic or cultural things and buying from foreign brands. So it affects the economy of our country. Small shop owners work hard to make something and that is the reason of their high pricing. But, without understand these things we buy cheap things from malls. So, we forgot some of our cultural things like bangels made up from lakh or hand painting sarees.

In my opinion, this trend affect local people in a negative ways and promote foreigner brands. So that they are becoming rich and local shop owners cannot earn sufficient.

In conclusion, people can buy from malls sometimes but they have to buy from local business owner regularly to support them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by identifying the development and clearly stating a position that it is a negative development. The writer provides relevant reasons to support this view, such as convenience and variety at malls, contrasted with the negative impacts on small vendors, local economies, and cultural traditions. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or repetitive, such as the discussion on traditional items like lakh bangles, which could have been tied more tightly to the main argument. Overall, the ideas are extended and supported, fitting the criteria for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression from the introduction to the arguments and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different perspectives, such as the advantages of malls versus the negative impacts on local shops. Cohesive devices are employed, including transition markers like 'First of all', 'Additionally', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, some cohesive devices are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'have been down', and referencing is occasionally unclear. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their ideas about shopping habits and economic impacts. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'financial conditions', 'cultural things', and 'foreign brands'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'cantres' instead of centres, 'availibility' instead of availability, 'foreigner brands' instead of foreign brands, and 'bangels' instead of bangles. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'People can buy everything from only one place which saves the time as well as fuel cost.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout, including 'it affects on financial conditions', 'have been down', 'without understand these things', and 'so that they are becoming rich'. While punctuation and sentence structures are generally functional, the frequent errors in grammar and prepositions occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader. This performance aligns with Band 5.5.

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