Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Nowadays, rapid rise in online shopping is trending and some people believe that one day this will lead to the closure of all offline shops in cities and towns. I partly agree with this view because although online shopping has affected many businesses, Physical shops still provides several benefits.

Firstly, online shopping can cause difficulties for offline shops. People like to buy products from their comfort zone which is mostly at home. There is no time boundation in online shopping, you can buy anything at anytime. Sometimes, online shops gives them more discounts and offers. In addition, people can easily campare prices while sitting at one place and can read the reviews before making a purchase. For example, an online seller may sell a mobile at lower cost campare to a local shop because of its operational cost.

On the other hand, I do not believe that all offline shops will disappear. Many people prefer to see and try products before buying them. Some people will check the quality and size of the product before making a purchase. Physical shops also provide immediate service, whereas customers usually have to wait for their online deliveries. For instance, before buying a pair of shoes, customer likes to visit a mall to try a size, fit, quality and colour of the shoes.

In the conclusion, online shopping is a major challenge to the traditional local shops and may lead to the closure of some businesses. Nevertheless, I believe that offline shops will continue to exist because they offer personal service and experience that online shopping cannot replace.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position (partly agreeing) and discussing both sides of the argument. The student presents relevant ideas regarding the convenience and competitive pricing of online shopping, balanced against the sensory benefits and immediate service of physical shops. The ideas are adequately supported with examples, such as comparing operational costs for mobile phones and visiting a mall to check shoe sizes. However, some arguments could have been extended further to fully reach a Band 7 level, as certain points tend to generalise without deep elaboration. Overall, the task is answered satisfactorily, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each main idea housed in its own distinct section. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'In addition', 'On the other hand', and 'For example' are utilised to guide the reader through the text, although some transitional elements feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall structure is easy to follow, placing this response comfortably within the Band 6.0 to 6.5 range for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'operational cost', 'immediate service', and 'traditional local shops'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'boundation' instead of 'restriction', 'campare' instead of 'compare', and the lowercase 'Physical' mid-sentence. Less common lexical items are attempted but occasionally lack precision or natural collocation. Communication is never impeded by these lexical slips, which aligns well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'People like to buy products from their comfort zone which is mostly at home'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices, such as 'online shops gives them' (subject-verb agreement), 'at lower cost campare to' (missing article and preposition), and 'customer likes to visit' (singular/plural noun mismatch). Punctuation is generally acceptable, though minor slips occur. The errors do not impede communication, making Band 6.0 an appropriate score for this criterion.

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