Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-27

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, shopping centres has become more popular. Majority of people are choosing shopping malls over the small businesses. Hence, the local shops are having locks on their doors. I believe, this is a positive development.

There are several advantages of shopping in the large shopping complex. The most prominent one is, it is more efficient than shopping in the local shops. These malls can bring all the variety under one roof in a single building, one can buy a few things such as clothes, accessories, footwears. However, if an individual is having limited time to shop then he have to searh for different shops for each item where he can get everything in one building.

Another benefit of preffering shopping mall over the local shops is, the variety. The large shopping centres carries more stock then small shops. It helps people to buy their favourite item which can be missing in the smaller shops as they have limited space to carry stock. Also, shopping centres usually provide extra discounts on the items which the local shops fails to provide as the shopping malls usually order bulk stuff where the small businesses usually only orders an item when their previous one is sold.

On the other hand, where there are advantages of shopping in the malls, there are a few drawback. The predominant one is, it can affect the economic growth of a nation. If this trend will keep the same pace, no other person will even think to start their own small business. Also, this can lead to the unemployment, as most of the people would try to get a job instead of opening a business which can provide employment to other individuals.

To conclude, there are some drawbacks of this which are; decline in economic growth and raising of unemployment rate, but these are not as significant as the benefits, which are; saving useful time for people as well as bringing more variety to the customer.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I believe, this is a positive development”) and remains consistent in the conclusion. You address both sides by explaining the convenience, wider choice and discounts offered by malls, then acknowledging possible effects on small businesses, economic growth and employment. These are relevant reasons, and the examples of buying several types of goods in one building help explain the convenience point. However, the negative effects are asserted rather than fully explained, and the claim that people will stop starting businesses could use a clearer link to local shop closures. To strengthen the response further, develop each main point with a specific example or consequence and explain more precisely why the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two paragraphs on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates your view. This makes the argument easy to follow, and signposts such as “Another benefit” and “On the other hand” help show the direction of the discussion. Some linking is mechanical, however, and the conclusion’s list of drawbacks and benefits repeats points without adding much synthesis. Within paragraphs, connections between claims could also be clearer—for example, explain how bulk purchasing leads to lower prices before moving to discounts. Use a wider range of natural transitions and pronouns with clear references, and make each paragraph build explicitly toward your judgement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “shopping centres,” “variety,” “economic growth,” “unemployment” and “limited space.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “under one roof” and “bulk.” However, several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems make the language less natural: “having locks on their doors” is an awkward way to describe closures, “footwears” is not the usual form, and “preffering” and “searh” are misspelled. Phrases such as “the large shopping centres carries more stock” also show imprecise word forms. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations, such as “a wider selection,” “close down,” and “offer discounts.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “If this trend will keep the same pace” and clauses beginning with “as” and “where.” The overall meaning is generally clear, but some errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence construction remain. For example, “shopping centres has” should use a plural verb, “he have” needs agreement, and “the large shopping centres carries” also has a subject–verb mismatch. The conditional “If this trend will keep the same pace” needs a more suitable tense pattern, while “There are a few drawback” has a plural-form error. Review agreement and conditional forms, and punctuate introductory phrases more carefully; this will make your varied sentence structures more controlled.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.