Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-26

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 6.5)

The fast growth in online shopping might lead to closing of all the shops across the towns. I somewhat disagree with this statement.

There is no doubt that the rate online shopping has exponentially increasd, especially during Covid pandemic. People enjoy shopping from the comfort of their homes. There are no time limitations to it. If you want you can open your laptop and start shopping at mid-night in your bed or you can start scrolling some shopping site during lunch, while you are at work. You might be out of town and you need something urgent as soon as you come back and it is helpful that you can place an order while you are away and it will arrive to your door step. Sometimes you are too busy and you have no time to get ready and step outside to just buy one small thing, So you can order it through your phone and it will be delivered within a few hours.

Online shopping gives us so many benefits but we cannot undermine the importance of physical stores. There are still majority of people who prefer to look and feel before they buy something. There is lack of quality control when you shop online, you are almost never certain if you are going to get exactly what they have shown you on the images. This is one of the biggest advantages of shopping from stores, you know what you are buying. You can see the exact color, feel the quality and texture of the material.

Another advantage to physical shopping is the bargaining. People love the feeling of buying something for a cheaper price than the rest of the community. This is not possible when you are shopping online, if you want to buy something you have to buy it in the price shown on the website, there is no human communication possible.

Shopping is just not a necessity. It's a form of entertainment and a hobby for many individuals particularly women. They love to make plans with their friends to go out for shopping. It's a way of socialising. Online shopping can never achieve that.

All my friends use to go on shopping dates before the pandemic hit, and this was one of the many things that we missed to do during the pandemic. As soon as the situation got better and quarantine was relieved all of us decided to go shopping and catch-up on.

While there is no second opinion on how online shopping has made our lives easier and better, we as human beings need social interactions in any way possible, And going out shopping with your families, peers and friends is an essential way of socialising, and online shopping will never be able to supercede that.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position ('I somewhat disagree with this statement') and supporting it with relevant arguments, such as the tactile nature of physical shopping, bargaining opportunities, and the social aspects of going to the shops with friends or family. Ideas are extended with appropriate examples from everyday life, such as shopping dates and pandemic experiences. While the reasoning is somewhat general, it effectively answers the prompt and demonstrates a clear understanding of the issues involved. The response meets all task requirements successfully, earning a solid Band 7.0 for fully covering the prompt with a clear position and well-developed supporting ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. Each paragraph focuses on a distinct idea, starting with the growth of e-commerce, moving to the benefits of physical stores like quality control and bargaining, and concluding with the social aspect of shopping. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed adequately, though some transitions are a bit basic or repetitive (e.g., 'Another advantage...', 'Shopping is just not a necessity'). Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional mechanical referencing slightly lowers the sophistication. Overall, the essay demonstrates clear logical organization and progression throughout, aligning well with the Band 7.0 descriptor for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate and sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and phrases such as 'exponentially increased', 'comfort of their homes', 'quality control', and 'socialising'. However, there are some spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'increasd' instead of 'increased', 'mid-night' instead of 'midnight', and the unnatural phrase 'quarantine was relieved' instead of 'restrictions were lifted'. Additionally, the phrase 'price shown' could be phrased as 'price listed'. These minor inaccuracies do not impede communication, placing the vocabulary performance comfortably at a Band 6.5, which bridges the gap between adequate range and occasional errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures and subordinate clauses effectively (e.g., 'If you want you can open your laptop and start shopping at mid-night...'). There are frequent error-free sentences, showing good control overall, though a few grammatical and punctuation errors persist. For instance, there is a comma splice in the sentence 'Sometimes you are too busy and you have no time to get ready and step outside to just buy one small thing, So you can order it...', and a preposition error in 'in the price shown' instead of 'at the price shown'. Punctuation lapses are also present with capitalization and commas. These issues place the grammar at a Band 6.5.

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