Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-05

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 years, many small shops have closed and customers have started opting shopping malls for their shopping. This trend can be attributed to safety standards, low cost, client feasibility and efficiency. Although, concerns regarding the local shops and there owners remains valid but these infrastructural development still holds own it positives.

One major reason for rise in shopping malls and centers is customer satisfaction. The efficiency shopping mall brings is unimaginable, it brings several competitors inder same shed. The customer says, we get all of the commodities at one place with most competitive rates possible and there is more reliability. They suggest, if any purcahse goes wrong by any chance, they get maximum refund policy. Addingly, the companies always promote there products, to create trust within the market which was not possible with small shop owners.

Understanding the other perspective, small shop owners have wide impact on their businesses. Clients have mentioned there long-term bonds and relations with cutomer have been affected. Sometimes, Small shops have more varieties and freedom of brands for selection, but the quality is not that trustable. The owners who have already invested millions of dollars to make these businesses are now exclaimed by the amount of changes drastically.

In my views, growth of shopping malls is beneficial for wider population. Shopping malls would generate controlled flow of goods and responsible customer handling. There would less chances of consumer fraud and cheating

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages of shopping malls and the negative impact on small local shops, thereby presenting a position on whether this is a positive or negative development. However, the ideas are limited and somewhat under-developed, relying on generalised statements like 'customer satisfaction' and 'efficiency' without fully elaborating on them. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response is thirteen words short of the two hundred and fifty-word minimum, which restricts the depth of the discussion and prevents a higher score for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text displays some overall organisation, with paragraphs dedicated to the introduction, the benefits of malls, the counter-perspective regarding small shops, and a concluding view. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'One major reason', 'Understanding the other perspective', and 'In my views', establishing a basic logical arrangement. However, referencing is not always clear, and some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, meaning the progression of ideas is occasionally disrupted rather than flowing completely smoothly throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for discussing the topic, featuring words like 'competitors', 'commodities', and 'refund policy'. However, there are noticeable spelling, word choice, and word form errors throughout the text, such as 'opting shopping malls' instead of 'opting for shopping malls', 'inder same shed' instead of 'under the same roof', 'purcahse', 'Addingly', and 'exclaimed'. These lexical inaccuracies and non-standard collocations cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted vocabulary range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the range remains limited. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions, agreement, and plurals, such as 'there owners remains' instead of 'their owners remain', 'holds own it positives', and 'There would less chances'. Attempts at complex structures are often faulty, and these frequent errors cause noticeable strain and difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar firmly within the lower descriptive range.

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