Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-29

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)

In recent years, e-commerce is an emerging trend in the society. It is often argued that e-shopping will take over all the shops in a metropolitan areas. I strongly disagree with this notion and reasons will be elaborated in the upcoming paragraphs with relevant examples.

One of the major reason is that small-scale shops in cities offer all kind of products to the consumers. Customers can visit the shops physically and they can try the product prior to making purchasing decision. For instance, many shops offer a trial room to their customers where they can try the outfit before finalizing the buying decision. As a result, this offer a assurance to buyer whether outfit is suit on them or color is exactly the same they are looking for.

Furthermore, online shopping involves numerous risks such as hacking of a buyer's personal data or banking information which later results in a fraud activity. On the other hand, the local shops are free of any such risks and provides the stress free environment where they can enjoy their shopping. To illustrate, online websites and payment gateways poses a high risk of fraud activities. Consequently, buyer may be the victim of such frauds.

Finally, local shops also reflects the culture of the town, especially on festival days. The local shops gives the relaxing environment to customer to spend their leisure time. For instance, during the halloween's week, the shops were decorated with the themes which provides the different vibe to shoppers to spend their time.

To conclude, although online shopping provides convenience to customers but the significance of local small shops can not be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I strongly disagree”) and remains consistent in the conclusion. You give three relevant reasons: customers can try products in person, online payments may expose buyers to fraud, and local shops contribute to a town’s atmosphere and culture. These points address the question and are supported with examples, particularly the fitting-room example. However, some support is less fully developed: the claim that local shops are “free of any such risks” is too absolute, and the Halloween example describes a pleasant shopping experience without clearly showing why this means shops will continue to exist. To strengthen the response, explain more directly how these advantages can sustain physical shops alongside online retail, while acknowledging that online shopping may reduce their numbers.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall progression: an introduction states your view, three body paragraphs present separate reasons, and a conclusion restates your position. Paragraphing is appropriate, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “Finally,” and “To conclude” make the sequence easy to follow. Examples are generally placed beside the points they support. Some linking is mechanical, however, with repeated patterns such as “For instance” or “To illustrate” followed by “As a result” or “Consequently.” The relationship between the Halloween example and the prediction about shops closing could also be made more explicit. Use a wider range of referencing and transitions, and connect each example back to the central question so the argument progresses more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “e-commerce,” “personal data,” “banking information,” “payment gateways,” and “leisure time.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning is generally clear. There are, however, some inaccurate or unnatural word choices and collocations, such as “in the society,” “a fraud activity,” “a assurance,” and “different vibe.” “Small-scale shops” is understandable, but repeating “shops” and “shopping” limits variety. Aim for more natural phrasing and precise collocations—for example, refer to “fraud” rather than “a fraud activity,” and use “a different atmosphere” instead of “different vibe.” More consistent control of these choices would make the argument sound more fluent and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “where,” “whether,” and “although,” and the overall meaning remains understandable. Some sentences are well controlled, such as “Customers can visit the shops physically and they can try the product prior to making purchasing decision.” However, some errors in agreement, articles, plurals, and verb forms remain. For example, “One of the major reason” needs a plural noun, “this offer a assurance” has agreement and article problems, and “the local shops … provides” does not match its plural subject. The sentence about whether an outfit “is suit on them” also has an incorrect verb construction. Review subject–verb agreement and article use, and proofread verb patterns; these corrections would improve accuracy while preserving your range of structures.

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