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 smartphones 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 transferring digital money which saves time as well. Apart from this, it also provides a history of all the transaction records 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 familiar with advanced technology which sometimes creates difficulties for them. As a result, this is highly risky for the 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 the 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 mobile payment applications and clearly stating a position in the conclusion that 'the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages.' Ideas are extended and supported, such as examining convenience, transaction records, emergencies, and the associated risks for older populations like digital scams. Examples like Apple pay and Paypal are appropriately integrated. However, the essay states in the introduction that it will discuss pros and cons 'in the upcoming paragraphs,' yet the body paragraphs cover both advantages and disadvantages across mixed sections rather than neatly separating them. Still, all requirements of the prompt are fully covered, earning a solid Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphing is used appropriately to divide the introduction, body arguments, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'On the other hand,' 'Apart from this,' and 'In addition to this' are utilised to sequence ideas, though some transitional phrasing feels slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, for instance, linking 'older people' to 'the older generation.' However, the logical flow is slightly disrupted in the conclusion where minor repetition occurs regarding cyber crime and convenience before delivering the final stance. These features correspond well to a Band 7.0 score for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, incorporating terms such as 'fast-paced era,' 'financial transactions,' 'demerits,' and 'cyber crime.' Less common lexical items are attempted with varying success. There are some minor lexical inaccuracies or awkward collocations, such as 'doing payments' instead of 'making payments' and 'loose their money' instead of 'lose their money.' Additionally, 'esspecially' contains a spelling error. Nevertheless, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the intended meaning clearly, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 6.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, utilising relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'people who are unable to recognise these threats may click those links.' There are several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses throughout the text, including article misuse ('paying for things using mobile phone apps' missing a plural or article) and subject-verb agreement issues like 'applications... are more convenient and easy to acces as people can use it [plural/singular mismatch].' Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, allowing the response to comfortably secure a Band 6.0.

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