Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06

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)

Online payments and Net banking has become very common in many countries. There is no need to carry cash or wallets anymore and people can make payments through their mobile phones. This has made life easier. Their is no need to carry their debit/credit cards, they just need to have money in their bank accounts.

On the first hand, paying online using mobile phones is a great development and it helps people make payments for anything without physically available at the place, they can pay from anywhere using online apps. It also offers coupons, rewards on every payment. Even some apps provides cashback. Online payments have become very common and beneficial for students who move out from their city to another for study/jobs and depends on their parents for their expenses. Parents can deposit their monthly pocket money in their accounts anytime without concerning the banks availability. Another advantage of this development is people can track and manage their expenses which helps them in future planning and decisions.

On the other hand, online payments have few disadvantages as well. This development resulted in many risks and frauds as well. The major risk of using mobile phone for payments is leakage of payment application passwords. Sometimes while making payments, the fraudsters keep a close eye on the individuals phones while entering the passwords and then snatch their phones. Another risk is of online robbery through links in messages/emails. Fraudsters use codes and techniques to steal money from individual's accounts by sending them offers, coupons through messages and when indivdual open the message it will automatically open the gates for hackers to access user's bank accounts. Additionally, in some countries government has imposed a certain limit of online payment per day which resulted in a major drawback of using these applications.

I would like to conclude this by saying that there are many pros of using online payment applications as mentioned above but alongside there are many cons as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phone payment apps, presenting a clear position by the end. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven, placing the response at this level. While some points, such as security risks and benefits for students, are introduced, they remain partially under-developed. For instance, the discussion on student convenience in the second paragraph touches upon financial support from parents, but the explanation lacks deeper extension. Similarly, the points regarding government limits and rewards are stated rather than fully elaborated with specific examples or broader implications. To reach a higher standard, the writer needs to extend every main idea fully, supporting assertions with detailed explanations or specific real-world examples rather than briefly mentioning them.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the argument into an introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct themes, such as advantages in the second paragraph and risks in the third. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. The transition phrase 'On the first hand' is non-standard (the correct idiom being 'On the one hand'), and referencing or linking between sentences can feel abrupt, lacking smooth progression. To improve, the writer should use a wider variety of accurate cohesive devices and ensure that referencing pronouns, such as 'this' and 'it', clearly point to precise antecedents to maintain a seamless flow of ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing enough terms to discuss digital payments, security risks, and daily transactions. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'fraudsters', 'leakage', and 'cashback', but there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, such as 'without physically available at the place' and 'concerning the banks availability'. Additionally, minor word-form and prepositional issues appear, though communication is generally maintained. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range by incorporating more sophisticated, precise vocabulary and idiomatic phrases while eliminating recurring collocation errors and ensuring accurate word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple and coordinate sentences alongside some basic complex forms. Attempts at more complex structures often result in noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues in 'Net banking has become' and 'apps provides', as well as the existential error 'Their is no need'. Furthermore, punctuation and article usage display frequent inaccuracies, such as missing articles ('the government', 'an individual') and singular/plural mismatches like 'indivdual open'. To progress further, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of error-free complex structures, pay closer attention to grammatical concord, and ensure that articles and punctuation are used accurately across all sentences.

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