Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-22
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)
Due to rapid change in technology people prefers to shop online. This notion of of buying goods using internet is debatable while some believe that it is adversely affecting the shops in numerous ways. Due to hike in online shopping local shops are diminishing with changing mentality of citizens. I agree with this idea due to the reason of changing people mind and huge impact of advertisement.
The first significant reason is people going behind the marketing done by the online sellers. Person watching TV, working in computer or scrolling in to cellphone often get compulsory advertisement to watch. The marketing scheme are shows in such way that person start following it deeply untill they buy it. For instance, the TV bought in to store may be high in cost compare to bought via internet. This if due to online seller do not spend money on shops and other thing which local shop owner does. This saved cost help them to sell it in cheaper price which leads people to buy it happily. However, online shopping may have certain advantages but it also have drawbacks like low quality, no buyer seller interaction which may result in the biggest disappointment.
Another key point is,change in mentality regarding buying from local vendors. They think that local shop owners are charging them huge amount for the same product which could be cheaper online. Some items are of low quality but shown well reputed in advertise makes individual to attract very easily. For example, buying branded clothes from online software like amazon might be cheaper than buying from shops. Buyer do not know about the product quality and originality while buiying from such softwares but in shope one can physically check in all possible way.
In conclusion, online shopping making citizens to become materialistic while diminishing the value of local shops. Moreover, shops in town and cities are unable to deal with this problem leads to close the shops permanently.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position agreeing that online shopping will eventually lead to the closure of town and city shops. The main ideas, such as aggressive online marketing, cost advantages, and changing consumer mindsets, are relevant and extended. For example, the student explains how online sellers save on physical shop overheads and pass these savings onto consumers. However, some arguments lack full development and generalisations are present, such as the claim that physical shops cannot deal with this problem at all. Despite these minor limitations, all parts of the task are addressed, and the overall position is maintained throughout, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as marketing schemes in the second paragraph and changing consumer mentality in the third. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and faulty. For instance, transitional phrases like 'The first significant reason is' and 'Another key point is' are basic, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in sentences like 'This if due to online seller do not spend money.' Logical progression is discernible, but cohesive devices are not always used flexibly or accurately, placing this response solidly at Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'diminishing', 'materialistic', and 'advertisement'. However, there are frequent word-choice, collocation, and morphological errors that hinder precision, such as 'people prefers' instead of 'people prefer', 'hike in online shopping', and referring to e-commerce platforms as 'software like amazon'. Spelling and word formation mistakes also occur regularly, such as 'buiying' and 'shope'. Although these inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capacity for subordination and relative clauses. Nevertheless, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors occurring across most sentences. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('online seller do not spend', 'online shopping making citizens'), preposition and article errors ('bought in to store', 'in cheaper price'), and tense inconsistencies. Punctuation errors are also noticeable throughout the text. These frequent errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader and prevent the grammar score from reaching Band 6.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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