Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-26
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 5.5)
In today's evolving time, people are shifting from local shopping stores towards the malls and branded showrooms for their shopping. This change has both advantages and disadvantages. i will discuss both in furthur paragraphs.
The formost reason, The more shopping centres or malls are in the city, the more employment will be generated. majority of the popultion is comes under the unemployed class, and this things open more apportunity for the people. Also, the the large shopping malls, have more varienty as compare to the local bussiness .They have products for all the age groups and competative prices all under one roof, this attracts the popultion towards malls.For example- In canada, the shopping mall, and outlets gave huge discounts near the festive reason that local store can not beat which lead the increase in sales of the shopping outlets .
On contrary, The most common factors among these changes in the local business are that the majority of people start judging people by what they wear and from which brands things are bought. This mentality forces people to buy things from big brands and malls rather than buying it from local stores. Because of this, the local businesses are decreasing, and for common people, it has now become the topic of survival. For example- From a decade, the chiness item in the markets has been very popular because of their innovation and pricing compared to local manufacturing. due to this many local shopkeepers shut down their shops and this effect on the nations economy, if the local production stop then country have to import products from other nations. its impacts on the growth of the nation.
In conclusion, I believe it has both the positive and negative impact o
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative developments associated with the shift from local shops to large malls. A clear position is stated at the beginning and maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as the mention of employment generation and the impact on local manufacturing. However, some arguments tend to over-generalize, and the development could be further extended to reach a higher band. Specifically, points regarding brand mentality and economic impacts are somewhat brief and could benefit from deeper elaboration. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, though paragraphing is somewhat irregular and incomplete at the end. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, but they are sometimes mechanical or faulty, such as 'The formost reason, The more shopping centres...' and 'On contrary'. Referencing is generally clear, but punctuation and capitalization errors (e.g., lowercase 'i' for 'I', missing periods, and stray commas) disrupt the flow of the text. Progression is evident as the essay moves from advantages to disadvantages, but the lack of a fully formed concluding sentence and awkward transitions prevent it from reaching a higher band. Overall performance aligns with a Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'employment', 'unemployed class', 'competitive prices', and 'survival'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('furthur', 'formost', 'popultion', 'apportunity', 'varienty', 'bussiness', 'competative', 'chiness') and word choice inaccuracies that occasionally cause strain for the reader. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points regarding shopping trends and economic effects, the frequency of lexical and mechanical errors restricts the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures ('The more shopping centres... the more employment will be generated') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('this things open', 'the shopping mall... gave', 'this effect'), article usage ('the large shopping malls, have', 'in canada'), and punctuation. Run-on sentences and comma splices also appear throughout the response. Although these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the grammar score from reaching a Band 6.0, placing it firmly at a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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