Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

It is often observed that due to technological advancement nowadays, people are using digital payment method with their mobile phones and drop the use of physical payment method. I believe that it has more benefits because it can assist people with fast payments and it saves time. Moreover, it can be used in different countries as well.

On the one hand, due to technological advancement people are able to pay their bills and day-to-day expenses within the friction of seconds, which is fast and it also saves time. Additionally, people don't have to carry their physical currency because of digital payment methods and therefore, money transfer could be done even without bills and coin, which is way smoother than carrying exact change or wallet to buy service or commodity. For example, recently in India government launched Google Pay, through which an individual can transfer or pay money just buy scanning a QR code. Which is fast and convenient for people in the long run.

Lastly, technology is serving its purpose across the borders as well. In early days, people have to do currency conversion before travelling to any country and mainly physical currencies are accepted from international travelers, which carries the risk of robbery and even it can be lost while travelling. Thus, digital payment method eliminates the threat of being stolen and an individual can travel hassle free. For example, the UNESCO group countries had mutually agreed upon the use of UPI payment method, which can encourage population to shift from physical currency to digital one.

To conclude, although physical bills carry the same value, it has more risk and responsibility. However, advance method of payment is more convenient and easier to use without any worry of losing it. Thus, the advantages of paying bills through digital devices outweigh the disadvantages use of traditional mode of payment.

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 of mobile payments outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, focusing on speed, convenience, and security. However, the development is somewhat limited; while the points are clear, they could be extended with more depth or nuanced analysis. For instance, the mention of 'disadvantages' in the conclusion is not balanced by any discussion of potential drawbacks (such as privacy concerns or technical failures) in the body paragraphs, which makes the argument slightly one-sided. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'On the one hand', 'Additionally', and 'Thus' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, there are some instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some referencing is a bit repetitive. The transition between the second and third paragraphs is clear, and the overall progression of ideas is easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'commodity' and 'hassle free', which are used appropriately. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'friction of seconds' (should be 'fraction of a second') and 'just buy scanning' (should be 'just by scanning'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the range of vocabulary to a level that is functional rather than sophisticated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the government', 'the digital payment method'), pluralization ('bills and coin' should be 'bills and coins'), and verb tense consistency ('In early days, people have to do' should be 'In the past, people had to do'). Despite these errors, the sentence structures are varied enough to convey the intended message without causing significant difficulty for the reader. More attention to subject-verb agreement and article usage would improve the score.

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