Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-08

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)

The use of mobile phone appilcations to make payments has become increasingly widespread in may parts of the world. Although this trend has certian drawbacks, I belieeve that its advantages are considerably greather, particularly in therms of convenience, eeffecieency and financial manageemeent.

One of thee main benefits of mobile payments is their convenience. People no longer need to carry cash or physical bank cards when shopping, dinning out or using public transport. A payment can often be completed within seconds simplying scanning a QR code. This is particularly useful when people are travelling or in situations when carrying a wallet is inconvenient. Furthermore, Mobile application allows users to make payments from any part of the world at any time, which would save lot of time. In some situations application also has an feature of making a payment in different currency. This feature is a bonus when you are travelling internationally and did not had time to take some foreign cash along with you. Another significant advantage is that mobile payment system helps to maintain or managetheir financial transactions at on place. In future this helps with tracking down sepndings on unnecessary expenses. In addition, digital payments are vry seecure than carrying large amount of cash because phones aree procted by passwords or other security meeasures.

Nevertheless, there are some disadvantages. Thee most obvious concern is digital security. Hackers and online frauders may attempt to gain access to users financial information. Another issue is that eelderly people might struggle to make online payments due to lack of technical skills. In addition, technical problems like low battery, no internet connection or application failur can temporally prevent you from making any online payments.

To recapitulate, while mobile payments can create security risks and may be inconvenient for people who are less technologically confident, I believe their advantages outweighs these advantages. With stronger cybersecurity measures and greater digital education, mobile payments are likely to become even safer and most practical part of everyday life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You address the question directly and maintain a clear position: the advantages of mobile payments outweigh the disadvantages. The response gives relevant reasons on both sides, including convenience, international use, transaction tracking, security risks, and difficulties for older users. Several points are supported with practical detail, such as scanning a QR code and being unable to pay when a phone battery is low. This range of relevant support makes the argument convincing overall. Some ideas, however, are less fully explained than others: the claim that apps help users manage spending is mentioned briefly, and the security benefit of password protection could be qualified by acknowledging that phones can also be compromised. Developing these points more precisely would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, the main body presents advantages and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “In addition,” and “Nevertheless” help signal relationships between points. The examples about travel and technical problems also sit naturally within the relevant paragraphs. At times, however, the advantages paragraph contains several points in quick succession, so the connection between international payments, transaction management, and security is not always smooth. Some transitions are also a little mechanical. Grouping related benefits more deliberately and using clearer references between sentences would make the progression more fluent and cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including relevant terms such as “QR code,” “financial information,” “technical skills,” and “cybersecurity measures.” Phrases such as “digital security” and “tracking down” show attempts to use more specific language, and the intended meaning is generally clear. However, spelling errors and inaccurate word forms occur throughout, including “appilcations,” “effecieency,” “sepndings,” and “procted.” There are also some awkward or imprecise combinations, such as “from any part of the world” and “maintain or manage their financial transactions at on place.” These do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for payments, spending, and security.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a concession in the introduction (“Although this trend has certain drawbacks”) and a conditional clause in the conclusion (“With stronger cybersecurity measures…”). Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors appear in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “application allows users” needs a plural subject or an article, while “would save lot of time” is missing an article. The phrase “did not had time” uses an incorrect verb form, and “their advantages outweighs” has a subject–verb agreement error. There are also occasional article and plural issues, as in “an feature” and “large amount of cash.” Proofreading these patterns while continuing to use varied sentence structures would improve accuracy.

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.