Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-03

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 6.0)

Paying for things by using digital devices is becoming more prevalent in most of the nations. There are several advantages of this development. This essay will discuss the advantages of paying for things by using the online services followed by disadvantages.

To begin with, there are numerous benefits of the digital payment. Purchasing things by paying through online applications provides the convinience to the buyer as buyer can make the payment from any corner of the world. For example, while visiting abroad an individual can make the utilities payment through the online apps and services. The individual does not need to be present for the payment. In addition to this, people do online shoppings and pay for their purchase through the merchant website. For instance, purchasing the product from the amazon website.

Furthermore, by paying for the services by using online methods saves a lot of time of the buyer. As buyer can make the payment at any time of the day, for instance, an individual may buy things online and can make payment at midnight.

Contrary, there are many disadvantages of paying for product through digital platforms. The data privacy is one of the major concern individuals are facing nowadays as many fraudulant activities may happen while make online payment. To support this notion, as per the survey 2026, most of the online payment platforms are hacked by the hackers as payment got deducted from the buyer's bank account , however; the payment will not deposited to merchant's bank account. Moreover, there is a risk of data privacy as while paying through online platforms, the buyer's banking details were leaked poses a threat of fraud payment.

To conclude, despite having some disadvantages, I believe that the benefits of paying through mobile apps outweigh the disadvantages. The applications are designed to meet the growing demand of the online buyer's.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of mobile payment apps, presenting a clear position throughout that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. However, the ideas are developed unevenly. While the benefits section includes examples such as making utility payments while abroad and shopping on merchant websites like Amazon, the disadvantages section relies on more generalised and under-developed points. Specifically, the mention of hacking and data leaks in the fourth paragraph lacks a clear, realistic supporting example. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to ensure that all arguments, particularly the counter-arguments, are equally well-supported and extended with specific, plausible illustrations rather than vague scenarios.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from an introduction to body paragraphs covering advantages, then disadvantages, and a final conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct themes. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'Contrary' are employed to guide the reader through the text, which is characteristic of the level. However, cohesion occasionally feels somewhat mechanical or rigid, and referencing is at times slightly repetitive, as seen with the frequent reliance on 'the buyer' and 'the online payment'. To move towards a higher band, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive relationships and referencing pronouns to ensure smoother transitions between ideas without relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common terms such as 'prevalent', 'convinience', 'fraudulant', and 'platform'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in spelling, word form, and word choice throughout the text. For instance, 'convinience' is misspelled, 'fraudulant' contains an incorrect vowel, and phrases like 'payment will not deposited' and 'fraud payment' show inappropriate word formation and collocation. These errors do not seriously impede communication, allowing the reader to grasp the core meaning, but they prevent the writing from achieving a higher band. To improve, the writer should focus on accurate spelling and natural word combinations, ensuring that derivatives such as nouns and adjectives are used correctly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as subordinate clauses and participial phrases, as seen in 'while visiting abroad an individual can make the utilities payment'. There are some grammatical errors and punctuation issues present, including incorrect article usage ('the convinience', 'the amazon website'), preposition errors ('paying through online methods'), and awkward punctuation such as the semicolon misuse in 'account , however; the payment will not deposited'. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede overall communication, meaning the core message remains understandable. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate greater control over complex sentence structures, articles, and punctuation, producing a higher proportion of error-free sentences.

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