Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-13

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 recent years, development and use of digital devices have been significantly jumped to higher quantities in almost every segment of human lives. Cell phones became the most used and handy device providing access to almost everything from entertainment to money management and many other important aspects.

To embark with the development of new applications, online banking portals and digital wallets have enabled users make payments directly from sender's bank account to receiver's bank account without exchange of physical currency notes. This process have helped to eliminate umpteen risks such passing of counterfeit currency notes, damaged bills, miscalculation of bills, loosing money of getting stolen by someone. Moreover, Mobile phone allow to access different bank accounts from multiple banks and nations makes it easy to access and use money. There are plethora different technologies and applications such as SWIFT, Interac, UPI, NPCI, Paypal etcetera that are commonly used interfaces for digital transactions.

However, significant number of population across the globe believe in cash transactions and can be seen quoting " Cash Is King". This group of people believe that currency notes are safe from digital frauds and hackers, and their overall spending is more efficient if they uses bills. Furthermore, spending cash neither depends upon device and network connectivity, nor can be controlled by limits set by bank. According to Fincor group, in 2025 people around the world have lost 200 billion dollars to digital scammers and fraudsters.

In a nutshell, we can find consumer using different methods of payments based upon their ease of access to those means. The

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of mobile payments. However, the essay is incomplete, ending abruptly mid-sentence in the conclusion. This prevents a clear, fully developed position from being established. While the ideas regarding security and convenience are relevant, the lack of a final summary or a clear stance on whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages limits the score. To improve, ensure that the conclusion is fully articulated and that the central argument is consistently maintained throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay uses paragraphing to separate different ideas, which helps with overall organization. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'However', and 'Furthermore' are used to link ideas. However, the abrupt ending significantly disrupts the flow and coherence of the final paragraph. Additionally, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. To achieve a higher band, focus on ensuring that the conclusion provides a cohesive summary of the arguments presented and that the logical progression is maintained until the very end of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at topic-specific terminology like 'digital wallets', 'counterfeit currency', and 'digital scammers'. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'significantly jumped to higher quantities' and 'loosing money of getting stolen'. These errors do not impede communication but indicate a need for more precise collocation and control. Expanding the range of vocabulary to include more sophisticated synonyms and idiomatic expressions would help elevate the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Mobile phone allow', 'if they uses bills') and awkward sentence construction ('This process have helped to eliminate umpteen risks such passing of...'). While the meaning remains clear, these frequent errors indicate a lack of control over complex structures. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, particularly regarding pluralization and verb tense consistency.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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