Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-05

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 the modern era, online payments are evolving day by day. Some people found this development advancing and devastating, while others oppose this notion. However, I believe that online payments should be encouraged.

With development in society, Banking and payment methods have also changed. people used to pay in cash. It was very hard for people living in far areas to send money and make payments to other people. With online payments, a person can send money to even other countries. Online payment makes transactions hassle-free and easy. Banking apps are capable of maintaining records for transactions, making it easy for individuals to manage finances. For instance, my uncle from Germany can easily transfer money through his mobile app to his family in Pakistan. However, Twenty five years ago it was impossible for a person in germany to send money to Pakistan online.

Through online transactions, businesses have evolved to a greater extent.

Trade among people from different cities and countries has become easy. Online shopping is made possible by online transactions to a greater extent. We can easily purchase items and goods of our own choice using mobile app from comfort of our homes. People should embrace shuch advancements in technology.

Online payments have certain drawbacks as well. Online money is considered fictional having no physical presence. However, many online scams are taking place in society which are unavoidable by senior citizens and illiterate people of society. Peoptle having less knowldge about technology are more prone to loosing their money through scams.

In conclusion, despite having its fictional value and many scams in society, online payments are still considered easy and time consuming. Online payments are proved to be very successfull for businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of mobile payment apps, ultimately presenting a clear personal position in favour of them. Relevant ideas are introduced, such as international money transfers, business evolution, and security risks for vulnerable populations. However, some parts of the task are more fully developed than others. For example, the advantage regarding business growth and online shopping is mentioned briefly without deep elaboration, and the explanation of disadvantages focuses heavily on scams affecting senior citizens without exploring broader macroeconomic or social impacts. The examples provided, such as the uncle transferring money from Germany to Pakistan, successfully support the main arguments, placing the response securely in the mid-range for task response where main features are covered but ideas display varying degrees of development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible progression of ideas, moving from an introduction to general benefits, business advantages, drawbacks, and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct topics, such as grouping the benefits together and isolating the drawbacks in a separate section. Nevertheless, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transitions between sentences can feel abrupt, and referencing is not always clear, as seen in phrases like 'some people found this development advancing and devastating' where logical connectors are weak. Additionally, repetitive phrasing and simplistic cohesive devices limit the overall flow, preventing the essay from achieving a more advanced level of organizational structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to digital finance and mobile apps with terms like 'hassle-free', 'transactions', and 'manage finances'. There are, however, noticeable lexical shortcomings, including spelling errors ('shuch', 'knowldge', 'Peoptle', 'successfull'), word choice inaccuracies ('fictional value' instead of intangible or virtual nature), and awkward phrasing like 'time consuming' when the context clearly demands a positive attribute such as 'time-saving'. While these errors do not seriously impede communication, the vocabulary is largely basic or prone to slips when attempting less common items, keeping the lexical score at a moderate level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases such as 'With development in society' and 'For instance'. There are several grammatical errors regarding capitalization, articles, and prepositions, including 'paying for things using mobile phone' missing a plural or article, 'people living in far areas' instead of remote areas, and 'prone to loosing' where the gerund spelling is incorrect ('losing'). Punctuation is occasionally erratic, such as 'Twenty five years ago'. Despite these recurring errors in grammar and mechanics, the sentence structures are sufficiently varied, and the errors rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the train of thought without major difficulty.

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