Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22

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)

In today's fast-paced era, technology plays a crucial role in everyone's life. Therefore, in several nations people are using their smart phones applications such as Apple pay for their purchases instead of doing payments with traditional methods. This essay will discuss both the pros and cons of this trend in the upcoming paragraphs.

On the one hand, there are numerous factors that encourage people to use their cellphones for their financial transactions as it is more convenient rather than using cash. This is because, individuals can easily purchase goods from any corner of the world by transfering digital money which saves their time as well. Apart from this, it also provides a history of all the transaction bills that people can save in their emails in case they want to return or exchange their items. In addition to this, applications like Paypal, Remitly or Apple wallet are very useful in emergencies when people do not have cash or physical cards to pay their bills.

On the other hand, there are also some demerits of this growing popularity as it is not suitable for older people. This is because, they are not so familia r with advanced technology which sometimes creates difficulties for them. As a result, this is highly risky for older generation as they can easily get scammed while doing online transactions. For Example, scammers can send fake messages or payment links and people who are unable to recognise these threats may click those links and loose their money.

To Conclude, there is no doubt that, cyber crime is becoming a main issue for the society esspecially for older community while doing their digital transactions. However, paying for things by using mobile phone applications are more convenient and easy to acces as people can use it anywhere and anytime. Thus, the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phone applications for payments, and clearly presents a position in the final paragraph stating that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are extended and supported, such as explaining how digital wallets save time, provide transaction history, and assist in emergencies, while also exploring risks like scams targeting older generations. However, there is a tendency to slightly over-generalize regarding older people's vulnerability to technology. The position is maintained throughout the essay and the main ideas are sufficiently developed to meet the requirements of a Band 7 performance under this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. It follows a traditional four-paragraph structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs exploring opposite sides, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Apart from this', and 'As a result' are used to guide the reader, although referencing and linking can occasionally feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and each paragraph has a clear central topic, such as the benefits of digital transactions or the security risks for older demographics. Overall, cohesion is managed effectively to ensure the message flows logically from start to finish.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task and attempts less common lexical items such as 'financial transactions', 'digital money', 'cyber crime', and 'demerits'. However, there are some minor lexical errors and spelling mistakes, such as 'transfering' instead of transferring, 'familia r' with a stray space, and 'esspecially' instead of especially. Collocations are generally functional, though phrases like 'doing payments' could be phrased more naturally as 'making payments'. The vocabulary is sufficient to allow flexibility and precision, but errors in spelling and word choice prevent the essay from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'people who are unable to recognise these threats may click those links'. There is a good variety of complex structures attempted, but several grammatical errors persist, including punctuation issues around conjunctions ('To Conclude, there is no doubt that, cyber crime...') and subject-verb agreement or singular-plural mismatches ('applications like Paypal... are very useful' contrasted with 'applications are more convenient and easy to acces as people can use it'). The majority of sentences are understandable, and errors rarely impede communication, placing the response solidly at Band 6.

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