Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-17

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)

Nowadays, most of the countries are favouring to use mobile applications for payment purposes. This essay will examine how reliability and zero tolerance to fake currency are the key advantages of this trend and also how it’s an issue for developing countries. I firmly believe that the advantage of using online applications for payment, significantly outweigh the disadvantages.

The first and foremost benefit is reliability. In developing countries such as India has developed end to end encrypted payment gateway application UPI. It’s reliable and safe. People from different age groups are using it daily. Applications such as Apply Pay and G-Pay are favourites. The technology is easy to use but hard to break. Countries from around the globe will implement this feature in upcoming years. Secondly, countries which are promoting no tolerance to fake currency notes has the bigger advantage. There is no use of physical money as payment happens online and records are kept for each transaction. It also favours and reduce anti-terror activities by removing counter-fit currency notes and increases tax collecting.

Furthermore, people from developing countries have to have smartphones or smart devices to access it. The entire payment system works on internet using smartphones. People residing in villages are not still not exposed. But as an entire world is moving towards AI, internet and smartphones will be seen at every other household in no time.

To conclude, this progression of technology has more practical usage than limiting factors. People are trusting more and usage of this development has sky-rockted in last few years. The reliability and safety of this technology outperforms the limitations such as no access to smartphones and internet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Your ideas regarding reliability and the reduction of illicit financial activities are relevant and well-supported. However, the discussion on disadvantages is somewhat underdeveloped; you mention the lack of access to technology in rural areas but do not fully explore the implications or potential solutions, which limits the depth of your analysis. To reach a higher band, ensure that both sides of the argument are explored with equal depth and that your examples, such as the mention of UPI, are integrated more smoothly into the logical flow of your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'The first and foremost benefit' and 'Furthermore' to signal transitions between ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'People residing in villages are not still not exposed,' where the object of the exposure is missing. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the internal flow within the third paragraph could be improved to better connect the problem of digital exclusion with your counter-argument regarding the spread of technology.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'end to end encrypted,' 'anti-terror activities,' and 'sky-rocketed.' There are some inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, such as 'counter-fit' (counterfeit) and 'favouring to use' (favoring the use of). Additionally, some phrasing is slightly unnatural, such as 'no tolerance to fake currency notes has the bigger advantage.' While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on more precise collocations and checking spelling will help improve your score in this area.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you successfully employ some complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'the advantage... significantly outweigh' (subject-verb agreement), 'most of the countries are favouring' (unnecessary article), and 'as an entire world is moving' (article usage). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor slips throughout the text. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles, as these small errors occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency of your writing.

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