Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-07-30
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 5.5)
Online shopping will not close all physical shops because people still want social spaces, instant items, and hands-on experiences. Physical stores provide human connection, immediate goods, and sensory tests that websites cannot match.Social and Community ValueTown centers are meeting places where people gather, eat, and spend time together.Local markets and small shops offer a friendly human touch and personal advice.Events and festivals in cities bring crowds to physical streets, keeping local stores alive.Practical Limits of the InternetBuying food, trying clothes, or picking up urgent items is faster in a real store.Shipping fees and long wait times make online shopping bad for last-minute needs.Touching a product or testing a tool helps buyers make better choices before they pay.If you like, tell me:
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response is significantly under the 250-word minimum requirement, which severely limits your ability to develop your ideas. While you have identified relevant points such as the social value of town centers and the practical limitations of online shopping, these points are presented as a list or outline rather than fully developed paragraphs. To achieve a higher band, you must expand each point with detailed explanations, specific examples, and a clear introduction and conclusion. Because the response is essentially a series of bullet points rather than a cohesive essay, it fails to fully address the task requirements.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text lacks the structure of an essay. It is presented as a series of headings and fragmented points rather than paragraphs with clear topic sentences and logical flow. There is a lack of cohesive devices (such as 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'however') to connect your ideas. To improve, you should organize your thoughts into full sentences and paragraphs, ensuring that each paragraph focuses on a single main idea that supports your overall position.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is functional and clear, but it is quite basic and repetitive. You rely on simple terms like 'good', 'bad', and 'shops'. To demonstrate a wider range of lexical resource, you should aim to incorporate more precise, academic vocabulary related to the topic, such as 'e-commerce', 'brick-and-mortar establishments', 'consumer behavior', or 'tangible experience'. The current range is sufficient for basic communication but does not show the flexibility required for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writing consists mostly of simple sentence structures. While the grammar is generally accurate, there is a lack of complex sentence forms (such as relative clauses, conditional sentences, or passive voice) which are necessary to demonstrate grammatical range. Because the response is so short and lacks complex structures, it is difficult to assess your ability to handle more sophisticated grammatical patterns. You should focus on combining your ideas using conjunctions and subordinating clauses to create more varied sentence structures.
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