Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-06

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)

Payment thorough phone apps is becoming a common method in several countries. According to some people, it provides more benefits such as conveniency, safety and security. While other argued that it can be easily hacked and not a suitable option for elderly people. I believe, this development has resulted many benefits to the society that has overcome the disadvantages.

In terms of negative aspect, often people complained about the cyber crime related to mobile banking and payments apps. It is commonly seen and have happened with many people that one click on unknown email or text on phone has resulted in thousands of dollers lost which makes this system unsafe to use. Phishing, smishing are the easiet way to hack these apps. For instance, recenlty, one lady lost 80,000 dollers because of one single click on fraud text message which allowed hacker to access all apps in cellphone. Not only that but also, aged people find this applications difficult to use and often struggle at the purchase counter if any issue arised. Elderly people are more vulnerable to hacking as anyone can do fraud activities on their phone while helping them in this kind of situations.

On the other hand, this system has provided more benefits as it is practicle and handy to use while purchasing or travelling somewhere. The issues of looking for cash changes everytime and struggle to keep money safe has been eliminated by this option. Every transcation is easily trackable and can help to manage budget. Another promient reason is safety features such as face-locks and fingerprint locks make these apps more secure and hard to hack. The Ali pay of China is the biggest example of this, people of China use Alipay for everything, One single app can be use at all grocery stores, shopping malls, as well as on all public transport which makes life more easy and convenient.

In conclusion, it has few negative effects but the impact of positive effects can not be ignored. It provides more security, safety and conveniency that makes life easier and save planty of time in this busy lifestyle.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the discussion on security features and the example of Alipay. However, some arguments, particularly regarding the elderly, are slightly generalised. The essay maintains a consistent stance throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarises the main points. To reach a higher band, ensure that all examples are fully integrated and that the analysis of the disadvantages is as robust as the discussion of the benefits.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is generally smooth. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In terms of', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing (e.g., 'this applications' instead of 'these applications'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the opposing viewpoints, which contributes to the overall clarity of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with some attempts at topic-specific terminology like 'phishing', 'smishing', and 'cyber crime'. However, there are several spelling errors ('conveniency', 'dollers', 'practicle', 'transcation', 'promient', 'planty') and some awkward word choices ('one lady lost 80,000 dollers'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a lack of precision. To improve, focus on mastering the spelling of common academic and topic-related words and refining collocations to sound more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('people complained', 'this applications', 'any issue arised') and article usage. Some sentences are slightly disjointed due to these errors. While the writer attempts complex structures, the control is inconsistent. To achieve a higher band, the student should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, particularly verb tenses and pluralisation, to ensure that the majority of sentences are error-free.

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