Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The growth of online shopping will one day lead to all shops in towns and cities closing.

Do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.0)

In my opinion, I disagree that the growth of online shopping will one day lead to closure of all shops in town and cities. Firstly, I believe, introduction of online shopping has only increased the number of shops and shoppers. For example, Happenstance is a brand which started as an online footwear brand, over the time, the brand gained a lot of popularity, therefore they had to expand into physical shops to encourage a lot of new consumers.

Secondly, physical Shops give a lot of visibility and comfort in shopping, when compared to online platforms.Therefore it is always important to have a physical store in additional to online store.For example, Sephora has multiple outlets inspite of an online website. Many consumers prefer going to physical store because it provides a real experience where better products matches your requirements at your convience. It would eliminate the process of ordering the mismatched product and then later returning them. I believe, physical shops are essential in many ways.

Thirdly, since online shopping website offers a lot of variety and offers, physical shops are also encouraged to come up with better variety of goods and offers to attract customers. For example, Best Buy has a price match option, therefore any customer can walk into a physical store and buy the product at the best price match. This way physical shops are essential for a valuable trading experience.

Therefore, personally I believe online shopping is a new medium of business with good potential to increase shopping experience and business.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the opening and conclusion: you disagree that online shopping will eliminate physical shops. You support this with relevant examples, including Happenstance expanding from online sales into stores, Sephora’s outlets, and Best Buy’s price matching. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained; for instance, the claim that physical shops provide “visibility and comfort” could be linked more clearly to why they will continue to attract customers. The final point about stores improving their offers is also less developed than the first example. The response is 244 words, so it is six words below the required minimum; the ten words copied from the task prompt are not counted. Develop the reasoning further and meet the minimum.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, three body paragraphs present reasons, and the conclusion restates your position. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “Thirdly” make the progression easy to follow, and the examples generally sit beside the points they support. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent arrangement and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger cohesion. However, the repeated numbered transitions make the organisation somewhat mechanical, while links such as “Therefore” recur without always showing a precise cause-and-effect relationship. Improve progression by connecting each example explicitly to the claim it illustrates and varying transitions. Also use paragraph breaks and spacing consistently, especially around sentence boundaries.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate your argument, including “online platforms,” “physical store,” “consumers,” “variety,” and “price match option.” The examples also help make the discussion specific. However, the range is limited and several choices or combinations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “in additional to,” “at your convience,” “better products matches your requirements,” and “valuable trading experience.” These reduce naturalness and precision, even though the main meaning remains understandable. Aim for more accurate collocations and avoid repeating broad terms such as “a lot” and “physical shops.” For example, describe stores as offering “in addition to online sales,” a “convenient” experience, or “personalised product advice,” where that is what you mean.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “which,” “because,” and “where,” and your main argument is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries. Examples include “introduction of online shopping” (missing an article), “online shopping website offers” (number agreement), and “better products matches” (subject–verb agreement). The sentence beginning “For example, Happenstance…” joins two independent clauses with a comma, and several sentences run together after full stops, as in “platforms.Therefore” and “store.For example.” These issues do not usually prevent understanding, but they limit accuracy. Check articles and singular/plural forms, and proofread punctuation and spacing.

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