Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-07
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)
It is certainly true that majority of individual like to pay more and more money for buying mobile phones. According to my perspective, this idea brings more positive results then negative.
To commence with, there are number of demerits of using phone for paying bills. First cons is that people have to pay extra while paying online such as delivery charges. For example, my husband bought headphones which cost was 26$ what we need to pay 36$, and 6$ was for delivery charges. Moreover, people have to face fraud/scams during payments sometimes if they have no knowledge, they can provide OTP which may clear their bank balance. Despite of these, people have to face technical issues while paying payment. Thus, these are the main snags of this approach.
However, we can not avoid the benefits of using phones for paying bills of things. First of all, it makes people life more easy, faster ,convenient, and flexible. individuals can buy groceries at their homes without going outside. even they can save their money, time and energy which they need to spend for buying things physically in big superstore. Moving further, they can see lots of variety of products on different kind of apps, and after comparing price and quality they can buy. Furthermore, seniors who are unable to do shopping in stores and buying medicine in pharmacy, and paying bills of hydro and electercity they can payment by clicking single button.
To sum Up, although paying for things through mobile phones bring some problems such as high delivery cost, scams and frauds but its positive sides make people like more easy and flexible.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages, and a clear position is maintained throughout. However, the initial sentence misinterprets the prompt, discussing 'paying for mobile phones' rather than 'paying for things using mobile phone apps'. This is a significant misunderstanding of the topic. While the subsequent paragraphs correctly focus on mobile payment apps, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. The examples provided, such as the husband's headphone purchase, are relevant but lack depth. To reach a higher band, you must ensure you fully comprehend the prompt before writing and provide more sophisticated, well-extended arguments rather than listing points.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the disadvantages to the advantages. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Moreover', and 'However', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Despite of these' (which should be 'Despite this'). Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the overall flow is somewhat repetitive in its structure. While the paragraphing is sufficient, the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns and references are used more precisely to connect sentences.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. There are several instances of awkward phrasing or incorrect word choices, such as 'paying payment' instead of 'making a payment' and 'paying bills of hydro and electercity'. The use of 'snags' is a good attempt at less common vocabulary, but it is somewhat informal. Spelling errors, such as 'electercity', also occur. To improve, focus on learning collocations (e.g., 'incur delivery charges' rather than 'pay extra') and using more precise terminology related to digital finance and technology.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('majority of individual like'), missing articles ('paying bills of things'), and incorrect prepositional usage ('paying for things using mobile phone apps' vs 'paying for things using mobile phones'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma placement. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence construction and proofreading for basic errors would be highly beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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