Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-12

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)

As technology improvises, many things are evloving with it. One such is online shopping. There is a drastic change in how people are shopping these days, online shopping being prominent change. This change is likely to be believed that it would shut down all shops in various parts of the city in near future. I partially agree with this statement. I believe online shopping has both pros and and cons which I'll further discuss.

Online shopping has various advantages. One of the prominent is time saving. Since people have become workoholic and have minimum time for themselves, most prefer to purchase anything online without to waste time to go in person. Another reason is that most companies have online discount strategy to grab customers and also return policy which allows them to return products if dissasfied without going in person to be waiting period also some do not allow return policy in person.

However, we do old school people who are not familiar with modern technology and prefers to shop in person. We can argue that when shopping at the mall or any shops bring a different kind of feeling. For instance, window shopping gives you the feeling of satisfaction and serenity. Another scenario is shopping in person give you the feel of the products, such as the quality of goods. Example trying out a new wedding gown for wedding brings the positve vibe f

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The essay addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the argument, but it fails to reach the minimum word count of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. The conclusion is entirely missing, and the final paragraph is cut off mid-sentence. While you present a clear position, the lack of completion means the task is not fully addressed. To improve, ensure you provide a balanced discussion followed by a clear summary or conclusion that reinforces your stance. The ideas presented, such as time-saving and the sensory experience of shopping, are relevant but remain underdeveloped due to the incomplete nature of the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt at logical progression. You use some cohesive devices like 'However' and 'For instance' to link ideas. However, the abrupt ending disrupts the flow of the text, making the overall structure feel incomplete. The referencing is generally clear, but the lack of a concluding paragraph means the essay lacks a final sense of cohesion. To improve, focus on ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that the essay concludes with a summary that ties your arguments together, ensuring the response feels like a finished piece of writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'prominent', 'workoholic', and 'serenity'. However, there are several spelling errors ('evloving', 'dissasfied', 'positve') and some awkward word choices, such as 'technology improvises' (should be 'improves' or 'advances') and 'online discount strategy'. These errors do not generally impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. To reach a higher band, focus on using collocations more accurately and proofreading for common spelling mistakes. Expanding your range of topic-specific vocabulary related to retail and technology would also be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'This change is likely to be believed' (awkward phrasing), 'without to waste time' (should be 'without wasting time'), and 'shopping in person give you' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the incomplete final sentence is a significant issue. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of gerunds after prepositions. Reviewing basic sentence construction will help you produce more error-free sentences, which is essential for higher band scores.

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

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