Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-21

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)

There has been a global increase in the trend of payment through mobile phone application sytems. In this essay, I will explain the merits and demerits of using mobile phone applications for payments before explaining why I am convinced that this method is more advantageous.

Before the advances in technology, cash payments was the only method used by everyone. There was no learning curve to it. Any one with money could go out any buy anything. However, keeping a track of the cash inflow and outflow has always been a challenge. This often causes difficulties in individual financial planning. Additionally, people who are not good with mathematics, often struggle with calculating change money and might mistakenly qoute wrong figuires. These errors can contribute to unpleasant shopping experiences for customers.

On the other hand, modern day banking mobile phone applications allow users access to their bank statements where they can view their complete transaction history. Therefore, individuals can now get a better sense of their finances and budget smartly.

Although some people, like the elderly and illiterate may find it difficult to use such applications but once they get accusmtomed to the softwarre the overall experience becomes seamless. Furthermore, advocates of electronic payment methods find this method to be more convenient. They find managing physical cash tedious as it would require them to carry a wallet specifically for carrying cash seperately whereas mobiles are carried around everywhere universally.

In conclusion, advances in technology has now enabled us to shift to cashless payment systems all around the world. Cash payment systems can introduce errors in transactions and difficulty in finanical planning, whereas online applications provide a convinient and fool proof interface. For these reasons, I beleive this is a a largely positive development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the merits and demerits of using mobile phone apps for payments and clearly stating a position that the development is more advantageous. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, such as the comparison between the challenges of handling physical cash versus the transparency provided by digital bank statements. However, some arguments, particularly regarding older or illiterate populations, are slightly underdeveloped and could be extended with more specific examples. Overall, the writer successfully covers the prompt requirements, fulfilling the criteria for a Band 6.5 or 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Information and ideas are divided appropriately into paragraphs, moving from an introduction to historical context, modern advantages, and a clear conclusion. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Additionally', 'On the other hand', and 'Therefore'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in minor awkward transitions. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but linking sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'financial planning', 'transaction history', and 'cashless payment systems'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'application sytems' instead of systems, 'qoute' instead of quote, 'figuires' instead of figures, 'accusmtomed' instead of accustomed, 'softwarre' instead of software, 'seperately' instead of separately, 'convinient' instead of convenient, and 'beleive' instead of believe. While these errors do not impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at complex structures such as conditional and concessive clauses ('Although some people... may find it difficult...'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors present in the text, such as 'cash payments was' (subject-verb agreement), 'Any one with money could go out any buy anything' (preposition/word choice error), and 'advances in technology has' (agreement error). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors occur, they rarely impede communication, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

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