Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-01

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)

Digital payments is the blessing for today's state-of-the-art world. My inclination for payment methods is not towards the traditional way of cash payments but the mobile apps.

First and foremost, shopping online and offline is becoming more trendy especially in the youth. As per my point of view digital payments are more pragmatic in the fast-paced world than cash payments for everything and I have many reasons to support my choice for mode of the payment. Firstly, carrying a physical notes and cash is the burden which requires space with some protection as it can be stolen or robbed at any point of time.

Some folks still believes that traditional payment system of cash bills and coins is good than virtual. Their main argument is to lose the online safety of bank accounts. In the argument of money safety I believe If one can handle bunch of notes and coins in the pocket which is more prone to lose and robbed he or she can easily encrypt all the digital apps and accounts in this modern world. Secondly, by the payment apps and wi-fi enabled tap cards you could pay whatever amount you want where you do not need to round-off and worrying about the change.

To conclude, The digital mode of the payment is having more advantages than disadvantages nowadays, as it has both sense of security and traceability.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of mobile payments. However, the essay is under the 250-word minimum requirement, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the position is clear, the arguments are somewhat superficial and lack the depth required for a higher band. For instance, the discussion on security could be expanded with more concrete examples or a more nuanced analysis of the risks involved. Because the essay is under-length, it fails to fully develop the points, leading to a lower score in this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic logical progression. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Firstly', and 'To conclude' are used to signal the structure. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between sentences is occasionally disjointed. For example, the transition between the discussion of physical cash and the counter-argument regarding security could be smoother. Paragraphing is present, but the development within those paragraphs is limited by the overall brevity of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated language like 'pragmatic', 'traceability', and 'state-of-the-art'. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'carrying a physical notes' (should be 'carrying physical notes') and 'more prone to lose and robbed' (should be 'more prone to being lost or stolen'). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but the lack of precision and occasional errors in collocation prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('Some folks still believes') and incorrect article usage ('the blessing', 'the youth'). While these errors do not typically impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. The control over complex structures is inconsistent, and the punctuation is generally functional but occasionally imprecise. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and refining sentence construction.

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