Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-21
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)
Nowadays as the technology is becoming essential part of the daily life, it has impacted almost every part of our lives.
In many countries as we see digital payments have become very normal.
As far as the digital and online payments using cellphones are concerned it has many advantages. Some major advantages include the faster payments. In any case of emergency one can easily transfer the funds. Another advantage is that because of payment apps online shopping has become very common which makes life easier for the buyers.
Talking about the disadvantages of online payments using apps, we can say it has increased the number of scams that we usually see in our daily life.
Specially older people get easily scammed because they don't have much knowledge about the online payments so the becomes the easier target.
Sharing my own experience of digital payments I can say that it has made my life very easy and smooth as I usually make the payments using mobile apps.
Usually I buy groceries, pay the fee, pay the bills and all other monthly payments are being done by mobile payment apps.
That has made my life much easier and it saves me a lot of time.
I can conclude that in today's world online payments are such a blessing which technology has provided us. However it has some disadvantages as well which can be avoided if we use this technology smartly and wisely.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of mobile payments. However, the development of ideas is limited. While you mention faster payments and online shopping as benefits, and scams as a drawback, these points are not sufficiently extended or supported with detailed analysis. Furthermore, the response falls short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the overall task completion. To improve, you should aim to provide more depth to your arguments and ensure you meet the length requirement to allow for a full exploration of the topic.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is somewhat disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is basic and repetitive (e.g., 'Another advantage', 'Talking about'). Some sentences feel disconnected, and the transition between the general discussion and your personal experience is abrupt. To achieve a higher band, you should use a wider range of linking words and phrases to create a smoother flow between sentences and paragraphs, ensuring that each idea leads naturally to the next.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is functional but limited in range. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'made my life very easy' and 'very normal'. There is little attempt to use less common or more precise vocabulary related to the topic of digital finance. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of variety and precision restricts the score. To improve, try to incorporate more topic-specific terminology and avoid overusing basic intensifiers like 'very'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'as the technology is becoming essential part' (missing article), 'so the becomes the easier target' (incorrect pronoun/verb usage), and 'all other monthly payments are being done' (awkward passive construction). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the overall quality. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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