Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-25

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)

Nowdays, people often visit large shopping malls instead of small local store to buy any products, due to this reason local businesses are getting closed. This essay will discuss both postive and negative impact.

On the one hand, there is a negative impact on local businesses as people visit large shopping malls. People are promoting western culture by using their products instead of purchasing from local handmade products. Instead of purchasing foregin products, individual should promote more local brands which is produced in our own country. By doing this it will reduce less imports of foregin goods and less duty free products. With the use of more foreign products, there is less production of local goods which leads to closure of business and people are becoming unemployed. For example, Government has launch Made in India promote which encouraging individual to buy more local products and this leads to more local businesses and more work oppoertunities.

On another hand, due to fast pace work life, people tends to avoid roaming to various places to buy various products, they tend to find easy and convenient option to buy product. People prefer to visit shopping centres where they have all products at one place and sometimes, there is a discount during festivals which traps people to visit shoping malls often. Shopping is time cosuming process, people always tends to find easy and simple options to go at one place rather than roaming mutliple places. Large shopping centre has multiple choices like cineplex, food court, game centre for kids and various shops to buy product so it become perfect spot for family to visit where they can put their children in game centre and then they can shop freely.

To conclude, there are both poitive and negative impact on the closure of the local businesses due to large shopping malls. Government should give store space for the local businesses in the shopping malls so that by doing this local businesses will not be closed and people can able to purchase local products.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the negative impacts on local businesses and the positive aspects of shopping malls like convenience and entertainment. The writer takes a clear position and supports ideas with examples, such as mentioning government initiatives like 'Made in India'. However, the discussion tends to drift into arguments about western culture and import duties, which detracts slightly from a direct focus on the core prompt. Ideas are extended, but some parts are repetitive and slightly under-developed in terms of depth. Overall, the response meets the requirements for a Band 6.0 performance under Task Achievement, as all parts are addressed with relevant, though sometimes generalized, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the negative and positive aspects into distinct body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On another hand', and 'To conclude' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen with 'On another hand' (instead of 'On the other hand') and repetitive sentence starters. Paragraph progression is generally logical, but logical links within paragraphs can feel abrupt, placing this essay firmly at a Band 6.0 level for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'convenient', 'time consuming', 'entertainment', and 'unemployed'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text, including 'Nowdays' (spelling), 'getting closed' (instead of 'closing down'), 'fast pace work life' (instead of 'fast-paced work life'), and 'shoping malls' (spelling). While these inaccuracies do not impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of appropriate vocabulary and persistent lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions, such as 'individual should promote' (plural/singular mismatch), 'which is produced' (instead of 'which are produced'), and 'Government has launch Made in India promote' (morphology and tense errors). Punctuation is also sometimes neglected, leading to run-on sentences. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar score at a Band 5.0.

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