Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-18

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 6.0)

It is often argued that paying for smart phone apps has benefits, such as exclusive access to its advanced features, whereas others maintain that since these applications are already being monetized based on the number of users, paying for them is not necessary. While both points are understandable to some extent, I am firmly of the opinion that app developers should collect money from the people using their apps, mainly because of convenience.

One of the most compelling reasons why I believe that people should pay for the apps that they are using on their smartphones is because it enables them to access the other essential features of the app. This is largely due to the fact that most apps rely on substantial amount of funding for them to futher develop the apps, which concequently serve the app users best interests. By paying for the applications, users have the advantage that they can utilize those apps efficently and effetively, thereby allowing them to perform their personal and professinal activties. For instance, a subscription-based document storage ensures that users save vasts amount of files, thus reducing the high costs associated with acquiring a more expensive electronic document storage software.

On the other hand, others prefer that application developers should not be asking them to pay for the apps. This is mainly because, the purpose of these apps are to attract people to download them so that they can invite tech investors, finance people to fund and sustain app development, then ultimately encourage companies to utilize the apps in their daily operations or place advertisements. For example, social media apps, such as facebook are able to continously develop their apps because various organizations are using it as a means to raech their target market and communicate with potential partners, so asking people to pay for is not fair since these users already generate profits for them indirectly.

In conclusion, although both views have their own jsutification, I strongly believe that app developers require their users to pay for the apps because it helps them to improve the app, which is for the benefit of the users too. If this is highly implementesd, it is highly likely that more advance and essential apps will be created.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of paying for mobile applications, ultimately taking a clear position that developers should collect money from users for convenience and improved features. The introduction and body paragraphs successfully present arguments for both sides, such as access to advanced features and subscription-based storage versus free downloads supported by advertising. However, there is a slight misinterpretation of the prompt's focus in the opening sentence, where the student refers to 'paying for smart phone apps' as providing 'exclusive access to its advanced features' rather than focusing on the broader trend of 'paying for things using mobile phone apps' (such as mobile wallets or in-app purchases generally). Despite this minor semantic drift, the task is adequately addressed with relevant ideas that are extended and supported, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptors well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two distinct body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used throughout, such as 'While both points are understandable', 'One of the most compelling reasons', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, there are some flaws in cohesion and referencing, particularly with mechanical transitions and occasional run-on structures that make the flow somewhat bumpy, such as 'This is largely due to the fact that most apps rely on substantial amount of funding for them to futher develop the apps, which concequently serve the app users best interests.' Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas, but referencing is occasionally unclear. These features align the response closely with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'monetized', 'compelling reasons', 'subscription-based', and 'indirectly'. However, there are several noticeable spelling errors and word-choice inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'futher' (further), 'concequently' (consequently), 'efficently' (efficiently), 'effetively' (effectively), 'professinal' (professional), 'activties' (activities), 'vasts' (vast), 'raech' (reach), and 'jsutification' (justification). Additionally, there is a missing article in 'for facebook are able to continously develop their apps'. These errors demonstrate an attempt to use a varied lexicon, but the frequency of spelling and morphological mistakes prevents the score from reaching a Band 7.0, placing it securely at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as in 'One of the most compelling reasons why I believe that people should pay for the apps that they are using on their smartphones is because it enables them to access the other essential features of the app.' There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation issues, such as missing articles ('paying for smart phone apps', 'pay for is not fair'), incorrect noun-modifier agreements ('substantial amount of funding'), and comma splices, particularly in 'This is mainly because, the purpose of these apps are to attract people'. These errors do not impede overall communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument easily, which corresponds to the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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