Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-06

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)

Digital banking is one of the best miracles of technology. Cellphone apps for online payments is becoming increasingly common day by day. This development has remarkable advantages and it makes our life much convenient.

There are always two sides of a coin and this development also has it own good and bad aspects.

If we look at the bright side, Payments through mobile apps diminishes the need of carrying a wallet or a heavy bag everywhere, as it is a huge responsibility to take care of your wallet. A mobile is something which is always in your hands and you don't need to have a specific amount of cash every time you visit market. As, robbery and bag snatching is very common specially in low middle income countries like ours. If you only have a cell phone in your hand you can easily take care of it and there are no chances of robbery as mobile apps has trackers, and secure passwords. You can quickly report to the police and your mobile can easily be recovered. I can better elaborate this advantage from my own personal experience. Last month I went to a supermarket for shopping and my bag was snatched and even I did not realise it for an hour due to hustle and bustle in market. When I realised that, i rushed towards bank because all I had in my wallet were my ATM cards. I block them all and at that moment I realised that having a secure mobile banking and access to online payment saves me from a huge loss.

On the other hand, sometimes cash is also necessary because when you use public transport you need cash amount in most countries and people mostly now don't have cash in their pockets.

Overall, I believe that positive side of this development carries more weight as it makes our daily lives easy because we can pay bills online and we don't need to wait in ques for our turn.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages, ultimately taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. The ideas are relevant, particularly the personal anecdote regarding the convenience and security of mobile payments. However, the development of the 'disadvantages' section is quite thin compared to the advantages, making the argument somewhat unbalanced. To reach a higher band, you should provide more depth to the counter-arguments, perhaps discussing issues like digital exclusion for the elderly or the risk of technical failures, rather than just focusing on the need for cash in public transport.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand' and 'If we look at the bright side' to signal transitions. However, the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical, and some referencing is slightly unclear (e.g., 'this development' is used repeatedly). Paragraphing is present, but the second body paragraph is very short and lacks sufficient development to balance the essay structure. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'diminishes', 'hustle and bustle', and 'supermarket'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'miracles of technology' (which sounds slightly unnatural in this context) and 'cash amount'. While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, the range is somewhat limited, and some phrasing is repetitive. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding informal phrasing to ensure a more academic tone throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'apps is becoming', 'mobile apps has trackers') and article usage (e.g., 'in market', 'towards bank'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some missing commas and incorrect capitalization. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would significantly improve your accuracy.

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