Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-18

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 5.5)

Today in this modern era their are many teachnology invented by people that make life easier for world population. The one is from it is online banking which help to pay anything person buy online or in store through your mobile phones. In this situation let's we discuss about few advantages and disadvantages about this kind of payment system.

First of all, i remember their was a time when person go out for a shopping or even outside for travel they carries money in their wallet or in their pocket. But sometime if you go in public area it is a very risky to somebody steal their money. Same scenario happen when somebody travel in public transport they have fear about thieves cut their pocket and loot their money. Secondly, there were many cheaters in market who printed fake notes and spread in market so you have fear about if you got this type of counter feed notes. This are some type of disadvantages happen when we carries money with us.

On the other hand, i remember from last couple of years ago technology experts invented online payment system and that changed whole world. For example, google wallet or apple wallet that helps to pay bills for anything you do shopping online or offline. On the same side, this kind of digital wallet system gives you good discount and cash back offers while you use their respective cards for payment. In this case,people save good amount of money in their routine life.

In my point of view there are many advantages to use such a kind of technology that makes life easier and stress free. The invantion of digital paymet especially paying from mobile is very very helpful to people.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of mobile payment systems. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'fake notes' is a bit dated and could have been better linked to modern digital security. The position is clear, but the conclusion is brief and lacks a summary of the main points. To reach a higher band, you should provide more detailed explanations and specific examples to support your claims, ensuring that the balance between advantages and disadvantages is more thoroughly explored.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'First of all' and 'Secondly'. Some transitions are awkward, such as 'On the same side', which does not accurately reflect the relationship between the ideas. Additionally, referencing is sometimes unclear, making the flow between sentences feel disjointed. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would significantly enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several spelling errors, such as 'teachnology', 'invantion', and 'paymet', which occasionally distract the reader. The word choice is often simplistic, relying on basic terms like 'good' or 'many'. To improve, you should focus on using more precise vocabulary related to finance and technology, and pay closer attention to spelling and word formation. Expanding your range of collocations would also help you express your ideas more naturally and effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'their are many teachnology'), missing articles, and incorrect verb tenses (e.g., 'person go out'). Some sentences are poorly constructed, such as 'let's we discuss about', which is grammatically incorrect. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors is high. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips will help improve your accuracy.

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

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