Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-06

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 6.0)

There has been a noticeable shift in people's shopping habits. A huge number of customers choose to shop from large malls as opposed to small local shops. This has caused these small businesses to shutdown. In my opinion, I somewhat agree that this is a positive development. I have two main reasons to back my views. Firstly, I think that it is convenient to find everything in one place. Malls are a great example. You can find all the things you are looking for under one roof. Secondly, shopping at a large shopping center saves a lot of time.

I will now briefly discuss both my reasons below with some relevant examples.

In this modern day and age, People's primary focus is convenience. They look for ease in everything. Hence, Shopping at large retail stores and malls is very convenient for people. Everything that you are looking for is at one place. You don't have to make three stops at three different small stores, just to buy ingredients to make pasta.

Since everything is on display, it is easier for a person to remember something that they forgot to purchase earlier.

Last week I went to the mall to buy a perfume for myself. I had completely forgotten to purchase food for my cat. I saw a pet shop in the mall that reminded me to get food for my cat.

Similarly, another benefit of buying everything from one place is that it saves a lot time. People are rather busy in today's fast growing world. Making different stops at different stores takes too much time. Moreover, the issue of parking is worse. You never get a parking spot at these small local shops, which makes the shopping experience even more time taking and frustrating. I used to go to small grocery stores with my husband. One of us always had to stay in the car because we would rarely find a parking space. Additionally, it used to take at least 3 hours to finish our monthly grocery shopping at these local places. One day we decided to try out this huge shopping centre for our groceries. Even though it was a bit far away, but the centre had a huge parking space in the basement. We enjoyed our experience there because finally we were able to shop together. Surprisingly, it only took us 1.5 hours to finish all our purchases. Therefore, we decided to grocery shop from there instead of the local shops.

In conclusion I would like to say that contrary to the popular belief that we should support local business, I think that time is the most important asset and we should save it whenever we can. It is a popular saying that time is money and I completely agree with it. If something costs you more time than money than in my opinion, it is not worth it. Hence, I believe shopping at malls is value for money because it save you a lot of time and inconvenience.

time is money.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you consider the shift positive because malls offer convenience and save time. Both reasons are relevant, and the personal examples—remembering to buy cat food and completing grocery shopping more quickly—help support your view. This meets the task well, and the concrete examples show some of the development expected at a stronger level. However, the response gives little consideration to the closure of local shops or to the opposing view that communities may lose useful services and local character. The opening says you “somewhat agree,” but the conclusion presents a more definite endorsement, so the extent of your position could be clearer. Develop the consequences for local businesses and explain how they affect your overall judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs focused on separate benefits, and a conclusion. The examples generally follow the points they illustrate, so the overall progression is easy to understand. Linking expressions such as “Firstly,” “Similarly,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. At times, however, these transitions feel mechanical, and the opening promises to discuss “both my reasons” before repeating them in the body. Some connections between sentences are also loose, particularly the move from convenience to remembering forgotten items. The conclusion repeats the time-saving point rather than drawing together the argument. Use clearer links between each claim and its example, and make paragraph development less formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss shopping and convenience, including “under one roof,” “parking space,” and “shopping experience.” These phrases make the examples easy to follow, and the meaning remains clear throughout. There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “primary focus is convenience” and “time is the most important asset.” However, some wording is repetitive, especially repeated references to “time,” “different stores,” and “convenient.” A few choices are imprecise or unnatural: “fast growing world,” “time taking,” and “value for money” do not express the intended ideas as accurately as they could. Aim for more precise collocations and vary the vocabulary used to describe efficiency and local businesses.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “even though,” and “which.” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the personal examples are generally easy to follow. Some grammatical and punctuation errors remain. For example, “saves a lot time” is missing “of,” and “Even though it was a bit far away, but the centre…” combines two contrasting structures incorrectly; use either “Although it was a bit far away, the centre…” or “It was a bit far away, but the centre…”. Capitalisation is inconsistent after sentence openings, as in “People’s” and “Shopping,” and the conclusion needs a comma after “In conclusion.” Review sentence boundaries and punctuation, while continuing to use varied clause structures.

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