Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-24
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)
In today's society, pay for goods using smartphones has become increasingly common. Although this trend has several benefits, it also has some drawbacks. In this essay i will discuss both pros and cons of this issue
Paying for items using cellphones has cite of hosts.First and foremost is safety. People do not need to carry lot of cash to purchase an item. Through digital money any person can buy anything. In addition to this, people can explore places with worrying about money to be stolen. For example, through digital payment mode people can buy clothes grocery etc through online application from there own comfort zones. Moreover, people can keep track about their spending as all transcation will be visible on application.
On the other hand, cyber crime rate increases as technolody get advance. People use scanner to make payment, through that same scanner hackers can access personal financial information as a result money can be easily stolen. Moreover, technical problems can happen alot at that time people can not purchase anything due to no cash. For example, recently in Canada one financial instutuion information got hacked and whole system got trash as a result citizens can not buy anything for one week and company got bankrupted.
To conclude, eventhough digital payment helps people to make payment faster and securely, there are still worry about moeny to be stolen. I beleive that people should keep balance in both for small transcation make payment online but for bigger amount cash can be used for safer side.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of paying with mobile phone apps, presenting a clear position throughout. The writer identifies safety, convenience, and tracking of spending as advantages, while highlighting cybercrime and technical failures as disadvantages. Ideas are introduced and supported with examples, such as the reference to a financial institution in Canada. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from generalisation, such as stating that 'hackers can access personal financial information' without detailing the mechanism. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure containing an introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'First and foremost', 'In addition to this', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and logical progression are occasionally strained by mechanical linking and awkward phrasing, such as 'Paying for items using cellphones has cite of hosts.' Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but internal cohesion within sentences sometimes hinders smooth reading, placing this performance securely within the Band 6.0 category.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate ideas about digital payments and security risks. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'cyber crime', 'financial institution', and 'transcation' (misspelled). However, frequent spelling mistakes ('transcation', 'technolody', 'get advance', 'eventhough', 'beleive', 'moeny') and imprecise word choices ('pay for goods', 'cite of hosts', 'system got trash') indicate a limited control of word forms and spelling. The lexical range is sufficient for a Band 5.5, as errors occasionally cause slight hesitation for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text. There are numerous errors in subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, and punctuation, such as 'In this essay i will discuss', 'People do not need to carry lot of cash', 'with worrying about money to be stolen', and missing capitalization ('i'). Furthermore, run-on sentences and punctuation omissions occur frequently. While communication is not entirely impeded, the high frequency of errors prevents the score from reaching a Band 6.0, placing it at Band 5.0.
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