Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-28

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 5.0)

In today's rapidly evolving world the topic of using phone apps for paying has sparked considerable debate among the individuals and experts alike. While there are valid arguments in support of and against this issue, it remains a matter of personal pirorities and broder global trends. Some people believe that using cellphone apps enhance their experience and convinence other argue it has several disadvantages which puts our hard earned money on risk. This essay will explore both perspectives in detail before presenting a reasoned conclusion.

To begin with, those who support the idea of paying for almost everything by cell phone using various banking app often piont to several compelling reasons. Moreover, apps gives advantage to pay to any vendor by just tapping on the payment processing machine. Other benefit is we can transfer money to anyone in the world using various exchanges and some apps gives a liberty to choose the best rate for conversion. Recent studies shows the $500 million dollars was spent in 2025 for the sake of development on these apps.

On the other hand, there is a strong case to be made for the opposing perspective becsue depsite the numerous advatages using the mobile apps it also contains negetive developments for user. For example, recent study shows that baking apps contain many Vulnerabilities which will be used by hackers to bypss the system and stole money and information of the users. Almost, 500k user affected during the 2025 and lost there paycheqs completely.

In conclusion, it is evident that both perspectives on using mobile apps will lead to many advantages or more disadvantages we should carefully eveluate both while choosing these apps.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of mobile payment apps, fulfilling the prompt's core requirement. A position is stated in the introduction, noting that the topic is a matter of personal priorities and global trends, and this stance is maintained through the body paragraphs. However, the development of ideas is limited and somewhat superficial. For example, the points regarding convenience and security are introduced but not fully extended with robust reasoning or concrete examples. Instead, vague references to studies, such as the claim that '$500 million dollars was spent in 2025' or that '500k user affected', lack specific context or real-world grounding. The response meets the basic requirements of task response but struggles to fully develop its ideas, placing it firmly in the band 5.0 to 6.0 range. Due to these under-developed arguments, a band score of 5.5 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays a basic overall structure with clear paragraphing, including an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a brief conclusion. However, the logical progression within paragraphs is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and mechanical cohesive devices. For instance, the second body paragraph opens with 'To begin with...' and then immediately uses 'Moreover,' which creates a disjointed flow. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final sentence of the first body paragraph where the connection between the development spending and the app features is weak. Paragraph transitions feel forced rather than natural. The conclusion is also structurally weak and grammatically tangled, failing to summarize the main points cohesively. These issues reflect the descriptors for band 5.0, where organization is present but overall progression falters.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting words and phrases such as 'rapidly evolving world', 'considerable debate', and 'Vulnerabilities'. However, there are numerous noticeable lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'pirorities' instead of priorities, 'broder' instead of broader, 'convinence' instead of convenience, 'piont' instead of point, 'becsue' instead of because, 'advatages' instead of advantages, 'negetive' instead of negative, 'baking' instead of banking, 'bypss' instead of bypass, 'stole' instead of steal, and 'paycheqs' instead of paychecks. These spelling and word-choice errors are frequent and occasionally cause some distraction for the reader, although they do not entirely impede communication. This vocabulary profile aligns well with the band 5 descriptor, where errors in spelling and word choice are noticeable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and subordinate clauses ('While there are valid arguments...', 'Some people believe that...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, agreement, and prepositions. Examples include 'using phone apps for paying has sparked' (awkward gerund phrase), 'apps gives advantage' (subject-verb agreement error), 'Some apps gives a liberty' (subject-verb agreement error), 'Recent studies shows the $500 million dollars was spent' (tense and agreement errors), and 'lost there paycheqs' (possessive determiner error). Furthermore, the final sentence of the essay is a run-on fragment lacking clear clausal integration ('...lead to many advantages or more disadvantages we should carefully eveluate both...'). Because attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty and errors are frequent, a band score of 5.0 is assigned.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.