Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-27

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)

In the modern technological era, many individuals are spending too much cost for using significant applications on mobile phone. In this narrative, I will discuss both the advantages and the disadvantages and reach to a reasoned conclusion.

To begin with, there are several positive factors to pay for using cellphone apps, which are becoming rapidly common.

One of the main benefit is that people have the opportunity to use crucial applications such as PayPal, GPay, and many other also those have made public's lives more convenient. Moreover, premium applications provide substantial features and make lives easier; therefore, the community can save important time and get authority to use fundamental apps. For example, these days, people have a lack of knowledge about foreign languages so they cannot communicate with foreigners. Hence, they prefer using premium applications for learning new languages and can secure their job.

On the other hand, there are various negative points of paying for things using mobile phone apps because certain people are unable to pay huge amount of charge for utilising 'in-app purchase applications' , therefore they cannot receive valuable knowledge about premium applications and are away from vital apps. One major disadvantage is that sometimes people may lose large amount of money from the auto-paying option and get terrible issues. Thus, the residents should be careful for using premium apps.

To sum up, although premium apps have significant benefits, they can develop deadly problems for individuals. However, people use all kind of application for daily lifes but they should be check before using apps. Therefore, they can save their money and avoid awful problems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding language learning apps is a bit disconnected from the core topic of mobile payment systems. While the position is clear, the explanation of the 'disadvantages' is slightly repetitive, focusing heavily on the cost rather than broader societal or security implications. To improve, you should provide more specific, well-developed examples that directly relate to the financial aspect of mobile payment apps rather than general app usage.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear introduction and conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'On the other hand' to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where 'they' is used ambiguously. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their antecedents would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'technological era', 'substantial features', and 'fundamental'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'spending too much cost', 'get authority', and 'deadly problems'. These errors occasionally make the meaning slightly unclear. To reach a higher band, focus on using collocations more naturally and avoid repeating basic words like 'apps' and 'lives' too frequently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally conveyed, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the public's lives'), prepositions ('careful for using'), and verb forms ('they should be check'). Some sentences are also slightly ungrammatical, such as 'many other also those have made public's lives more convenient'. Increasing your control over basic grammar and punctuation will help ensure that your complex sentences are error-free.

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

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