Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-07

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)

Nowadays, a large number of local stores have been closed due to an increasing number of buyers have started going to big shopping malls for everyday shopping. I strongly believe this is a largly positive development because the large shopping centres provide all essential items under one roof and it is convenient as compared to small shops.

To begin with, there are several reasons why shopping from mega stores is considered to be a positive development. Primarily, these malls are spacious and provide different types of clothes, vegetables, medicines and electronic devices. Since all items can be found at one place, people do not have to travel to different locations. This not only save time, but also improve overall customer satisfaction. Shoppers Drug Mart, Metro, Walmart, and Costco are the good example of such stores. On the other hand, local shops only sell a few products due to low budget and in store space. In addition, customers find it more convenient to shop from big stores because they can easily find good quality of food and clothes, which is not possible to get from small general stores.

On the other hand, small stores have their unique identity because they sale traditional products made up in local city. For example in India, local markets sale Punjabi bed called Manja and woven baskets made from tree branches, which are hardly availabe in large stores such as Walmart or Costco. To corroborate this, the customers might loss their cultural identity when they completly stopped shopping from local stores. However, although the small stores sale traditinal articles, customers prefer convenience and variety when they do shopping. Thus, the trend of buying objects from mega centres is far more benificial.

In conclusion, althoguh customers may loss their cultural and traditional values if they stop shopping from local stores, they find variety of products rich in quality and peace of mind when they shop from large stores.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider the shift to large shopping centres largely positive, and the conclusion maintains that view while acknowledging a drawback. You support the main benefit with relevant points about convenience, variety and saving time, and the examples of Walmart and Costco help illustrate the argument. You also address the opposing consideration by explaining that local markets preserve traditional goods, using the Manja and woven baskets as examples. This covers the task and develops the ideas, although some claims are broad—for instance, that small shops cannot provide good-quality food or clothes—and would be stronger with explanation or evidence. Clarifying how the cultural loss affects communities would also deepen the counterargument.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting large centres, a paragraph recognising the value of local shops, and a conclusion. The progression from convenience and variety to cultural identity is easy to follow, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” make the stages visible. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some of the flexibility expected at the next level. However, transitions can feel mechanical, especially the repeated contrast markers in the third paragraph, and “To corroborate this” does not clearly connect the example to the claim. Use fewer formulaic linkers and make relationships between ideas explicit through clearer references and explanation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main argument, including “shopping centres,” “customer satisfaction,” “cultural identity,” and “traditional products.” The examples also give the response some specificity. However, the range is limited and several noticeable word-choice, collocation and spelling errors reduce precision: “sale” is used where “sell” is intended, “loss” where “lose” is needed, and “largly,” “availabe,” and “benificial” are misspelled. Phrases such as “rich in quality” and “peace of mind” do not express the intended benefits naturally. These issues do not prevent understanding, but they make parts of the argument less clear and polished. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations for shopping, convenience and product quality.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex structures, including a reason clause beginning “Since all items can be found at one place” and a concession with “although.” The overall meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur across sentence patterns and verb forms. For example, “due to an increasing number of buyers have started” incorrectly combines “due to” with a finite clause; use “because an increasing number of buyers have started” or “due to the increasing number of buyers.” Subject–verb agreement is also faulty in “This not only save time, but also improve,” and the opening sentence of the third paragraph needs punctuation after “For example.” Articles and plural forms are sometimes inaccurate, as in “the good example.” Practise checking clause structure, agreement and sentence boundaries while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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