Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-12

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)

Since the digital payment is becoming a common things in todays world it is rising a question on how this development is useful. I think that this has more positive impact on the personal lives of the people rather than becoming a disadvantage.

Firstly, wherever anything is bought we use your phone to scan the QR code or tap it on the machine. This way we can use less physical currency to reduce the theft in the country. Whenever we are travelling and carry a lot of cash with us we invite insecurity. Every time we have to be careful about the money in our pockets of being stolen, this makes us feel unsafe to travel. For example, if you are going on a trip then you can carry just a small amount of cash with you as an emergency fund. You can use your phone to do payment. This will reduce your stress of cash being stolen from your pocket or from your hotel room and you can enjoy your trip.

Secondly, becoming digital has been helpful in reducing corruption from the country. As only digital payment is accept at many places we have seen a significant decline in the black currency from the country. Now this has helped the security department of the country to locate the criminal who are involved in the bankrupt activities and this find of activity are reduced now. For instance, some people in past made a lot of payment through cash which increase the black currency in the country. There was no money for the government to do development as all the money were in people's house as a physical cash. This made the development slow. So, making a decision of using the tap system rather than cash was good for people as well as for the country.

Although, paying through phones are safe but we cannot deny the fact that digital theft has increase. As sometime, people do a lot for fraud activities using phones. There has been some cases where the entire account of the people is emptied by some criminals. Mobile transactions has also made people rely it which causes an issue when the serve is down and the transaction are not successful. Some people now do not carry any real cash with them and this makes paying for things difficult.

To conclude, the development of digital payment is good for people's lives and for the nation but we need to increase the cybersecurity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, focusing on security and economic development. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat repetitive and occasionally lacks precision. For example, the discussion on 'black currency' and 'bankrupt activities' is a bit vague and could have been articulated more clearly to fully support the argument. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting examples could be more sophisticated to reach a higher band. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, and the main points are logically presented.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'For instance', and 'To conclude' are used to guide the reader. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. Referencing is generally clear, though there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the benefits of digital payments and the drawbacks in the third paragraph is a bit abrupt. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is easy to follow, and the paragraphing is appropriate for the task.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'insecurity', 'significant decline', and 'cybersecurity'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'bankrupt activities' (instead of 'illegal' or 'illicit') and 'serve is down' (instead of 'server'). Some phrasing is also slightly unnatural, such as 'making a decision of using the tap system'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise word selection to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the student attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('digital payment is accept', 'theft has increase') and pluralization ('common things', 'some cases'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some awkward phrasings that affect the overall fluency. The errors are noticeable but rarely impede the reader's understanding of the main points. To improve, the student should focus on consistent verb tense usage and ensuring that subjects and verbs agree correctly throughout the text.

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