Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-02

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 6.5)

Mode of payment in most of the countries has been changed to digital payments. Where people can buy anything by just simply tap. Also it is the convenient way of paying for the stuff. However, some people consider this method to be risky, because due to poor network, payments take time. I personally believe that this is a better mode of payment.

To begin with, digital payment is taking over the old mode of transaction. Where people do not have to carry their heavy wallets, instead they just have to tap and buy anything they want. Moreover, buyers claim that this is a safe method of shopping, because digital receipt is always in the mobile as a proof of payment. Also, an individual does not have to bother about keeping a change. Whereas, any exact amount can be paid in a single tap. Additionally, it avoids the risk of getting robbed and wallet lost.

On the other hand, others argue that old payment mode outweigh digital payments. This is because, critics claim that due to poor network coverage, payments tend to fail. Moreover, the bank does not inform customers about their system maintenance. Therefore, while paying, customers tend to face difficulties. Moreover, drained battery results in the failure of payments and left customer helpless. Moreover, to recover any fraudulent activity takes a lot of time and causes waste of resources such as time and money.

In conclusion, despite the fact that old payments were secure, digital payments are the easiest way of shopping and let buyers to pay for their things flawlessly. Moreover, it saves a lot of time of persons by not going to ATM for cash withdraw.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout. You have provided relevant arguments for both the advantages and disadvantages of mobile payment systems. The ideas are generally well-developed, such as the mention of security and convenience as benefits, and network issues or battery failure as drawbacks. To reach a higher band, ensure that your examples are more specific; for instance, instead of saying 'buy anything', you could mention 'purchasing groceries or settling utility bills'. Overall, the response is balanced and directly answers the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. You use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'On the other hand' to guide the reader. However, the use of 'Moreover' is repetitive, appearing at the start of almost every sentence in the second and third paragraphs. This makes the flow feel somewhat mechanical. To improve, vary your linking words and phrases (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'In addition', 'Consequently', 'As a result') to create a more natural progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'digital payments', 'transaction', 'system maintenance', and 'fraudulent activity'. There are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing, such as 'paying for the stuff' and 'left customer helpless'. While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the precision of your writing. To improve, focus on using more formal collocations and avoiding overly casual language. Expanding your vocabulary to include more topic-specific academic terms would help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'Mode of payment... has been changed' (passive voice usage), 'Where people can buy anything by just simply tap' (incorrect preposition/verb form), and 'let buyers to pay' (incorrect verb pattern). Punctuation is generally functional, but some sentence fragments exist, such as 'Where people can buy anything by just simply tap.' To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of infinitives. Increasing the variety of error-free complex sentences will significantly boost your score.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.