Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-04

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 present times, it is true that spending money on things using mobile phone apps is increasing day by day brings both positive as well as negative impacts. It is our own perspective about something that decides its benefits and weaknesses. I would elucidate the pros and cons of paying goods and services through mobile phone applications in the following paragraphs, but I opine that its advantages on any day overshadow the disadvantages of paying from mobile apps.

To begin with, mobile payment has myriad merits. The first and most predominant one is convenient and fast. In other words, people can pay within seconds without carrying cash or cards. For example, a person can use Apple Pay or Google Pay to bur groceries without carrying cash or a wallet. In addition to that, another benefit to be considered and cannot be overlooked is easy to track spending. It simply clarifies that mobile apps keep a record of trasactions, helping people manage their budgets. For instance, banking apps show a user's recent trasactions, which helps them understand where their money is going.

Nevertheless, no one can deny the demerits of mobile payment. The major optimistic impact it has is security risks. To justify, hackers may steal personal or banking information, such as, if a person's banking account is hacked, criminals may gain access to their financial information. Another drawback is technical problems. To elaborate, payments may fail if the phone, app, internet, or payment system is not working. One example of this is if the internet or a payment appp stops working at a restaurant, customers may be unable to pay with their phones.

In conclusion, although mobile phone payment has few drawbacks, it seems that this phenomenon is significantly advantageous.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phone payments and clearly stating a personal position. The overall argument is supported by relevant ideas, such as convenience, budgeting benefits, security risks, and technical problems. However, some ideas show the characteristics of the band where certain points are slightly under-developed rather than fully extended. For instance, while the advantage of convenience is supported with a clear example of buying groceries using Apple Pay or Google Pay, the discussion on security risks remains somewhat generalized rather than fully fleshed out with a concrete illustration. To reach a higher level, the writer would need to ensure that every main idea is equally well-supported and explored with depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout, maintaining a coherent overall arrangement. Paragraphing is used effectively and appropriately to separate the introduction, the body paragraphs covering merits and demerits, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed reasonably well to guide the reader through the arguments, using transition signals like 'To begin with', 'In addition to that', and 'Nevertheless'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel a bit mechanical, particularly in sentences like 'The major optimistic impact it has is security risks', where the transition could be smoother. To achieve an even higher score, the writer could incorporate more sophisticated referencing and ensure a wider variety of cohesive relationships without relying on repetitive structural templates.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a sufficient range to discuss mobile payments with some flexibility. The writer attempts less common vocabulary items, such as 'predominant', 'elucidate', and 'phenomenon'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'spending money on things using mobile phone apps is increasing day by day brings', which contains a grammatical clash within the clause, and 'bur groceries' (a typo for buy). Additionally, phrases like 'major optimistic impact' misuse 'optimistic' in the context of security risks. These errors do not impede communication, but to move up to the next band, the writer must demonstrate greater precision in word choice, better control over word forms, and fewer spelling slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at varied syntactic structures such as relative clauses and conditional-style examples. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, but they rarely impede communication. Examples of grammatical slips include 'paying goods and services' (missing a preposition), 'easy to track spending' (awkward adjectival pattern), and minor punctuation issues around inserted clauses like 'such as, if a person...'. There are also minor spelling and collocation overlaps that occasionally affect sentence flow. To reach the next band, the writer needs to produce more frequent error-free sentences when using complex grammatical structures and ensure tighter control over prepositions and clausal agreement.

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