Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, paying for things using mobile phone (cellphone) apps is becoming increasingly common. Does this development have more advantages or more disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

In some countries, daily payments of goods and services using mobile phones apps is becoming popular in the society. This new development could bring both positive and negative outcome to the society. This essay will examine both the advantages and disadvantages of this development.

One of the advantages is easy transaction of things. Paying with bank apps is seamlessly because it is done at the comfort of the customer even when bank cards are not available. Due to it's effortless usage, people tends to adapt to using them. Another important reason is reduce misplacement of cards. Most people especially the elderly misplace or forget their cards at home or place of payment. For instance, many youth prefer to make payments using cellphone apps because they are always with their phones.

One the other hand, this development comes with disadvantages. One of them is lack of internet network at the point of usage. Those mobile phone apps needs network at all and some rural areas without network cannot assess it, which restrict it to some locations. Another disadvantage is theft. Some individuals use the medium to fake transactions and disappears with items supposed to be paid for. With this development, a lot of people have been robbed of money and effort. For example, cyber criminals use this means to rob different individuals providing fake receipt at the time of payment.

In conclusion, this development has brought seamless payments and reduce misplacement of cards. However, it has brought it's restriction in some areas and theft. This has both advantages and disadvantages but it depends on how it affects the society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the question by presenting advantages and disadvantages, with relevant points about convenience, forgotten cards, network access and fraudulent payments. The examples about young people using phones and criminals showing fake receipts help make the discussion concrete. However, the task asks whether the development has more advantages or disadvantages, and your conclusion does not make that comparison: “it depends on how it affects the society” leaves your overall position unclear. Several ideas are also only briefly explained, particularly how app payments reduce misplaced cards and how widespread the fraud problem is. State clearly which side outweighs the other, then develop your strongest reasons with a fuller explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “One of the advantages,” “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” guide the reader through the discussion. This coherent structure is a strength. To make the organisation more flexible and precise, connect each example explicitly to the point it supports and avoid relying so heavily on formulaic transitions. For instance, the sentence about young people using phones follows the point about misplaced cards, but the link could be explained more clearly. The conclusion also repeats earlier points without resolving the comparison required by the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “mobile phone apps,” “network,” “misplace,” “cyber criminals” and “fake receipt.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions such as “at the point of usage.” However, noticeable word-choice, collocation and word-form errors sometimes make the writing less natural: “easy transaction of things,” “Paying with bank apps is seamlessly,” and “restriction in some areas” do not express the intended ideas precisely. Some wording is repetitive, particularly “development” and “payments.” Build a more accurate range of collocations for convenience, access and fraud, and check word forms and possessives so that your meaning is consistently clear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause beginning “Due to…” and a relative clause in “areas without network.” The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction are frequent enough to affect clarity. Examples include “people tends,” “Those mobile phone apps needs,” and “which restrict it,” where the subject and verb do not agree. “This development has brought seamless payments and reduce misplacement” also shifts incorrectly between verb forms. Practise checking each sentence’s subject and verb, and keep verb forms parallel when listing results. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas easier to read.

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