Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-30

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 this modern world, technology palys an imperative role in individulas life. In many nations, peopel usually prefer to paying payments by using cellphones apps are becoming and increasing.I beleive that, this trend has more advantages and few disadvanatges which will be further articulated iin the forthcoming paragraphs along with conclusion.

To commence with, digital payment apps are more convenient and time saving methods as compared to cash payment.In other words, people can immedately pay their bills through digital payment apps, which save individuas time as comapred to cash payment in which, they have to wait for cash back which takes tiem in the busy time. Despite from this, people not longer need to carry enough cash for shooping which leads to that, they do not woory about chances of robbvery or theft whch occurs though cash payment.For insatnce, a survey was conducted by BBC (british Broadcasting Corporation) which revealed that, majority of crime are happen by carrying cash is dramatically reduced after using the online payment apps.As a result, online payment is more secure as comapred to offline payment.

Furthermore, people can set passport on digital payment apps,which make digital payments more secure and there will be less chances of cyber crimee.Pople can secure their privacy through face lock or finger lock, which is more safety password methods.Therefore, it is more important to pay through cellphone apps as comapred to other methods, which is no more safer.

Turning towards demerits is that, peopel face diffuculty to pay by digital payment apps,when there is poor network and their phone battery run out. Thus, these all things creates ardous for people to complete their payments.

To conclude,although, there are plethora of merits of using cell phones apps payment suchs as, timesaving,convenient, less cahnces of robbery of theft, during poor network connnections people face diffculty to complete their payments.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You answer the question directly by stating that mobile payment apps have “more advantages and few disadvantages,” and you support this view with relevant points about convenience, saving time, security, and problems caused by weak networks or a flat battery. The example about crime declining after people use payment apps also helps illustrate your security argument. However, the advantages are developed more fully than the disadvantage, which is mentioned only briefly, and the claim about reduced crime would be stronger with clearer explanation or a more specific example. Your conclusion repeats the main points but does not clearly restate why the advantages outweigh the drawback. Develop both sides more evenly and make the comparison explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two paragraphs on advantages, a paragraph on a disadvantage, and a conclusion. This makes the main line of argument easy to identify. You also use signposting such as “To commence with,” “Furthermore,” and “To conclude.” However, some linking is mechanical, and connections between ideas are occasionally unclear. For example, “Despite from this” introduces the point about carrying cash, while “Turning towards demerits is that” is an awkward transition. The conclusion combines several points in a way that makes the final comparison difficult to follow. Use simpler, more natural transitions and ensure each paragraph develops one clear point in a logical sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “convenient,” “secure,” “privacy,” and “cyber crime,” and you use some less common expressions such as “imperative role” and “forthcoming paragraphs.” However, spelling errors and inaccurate word choices are frequent enough to distract the reader: examples include “palys,” “individulas,” “robbrvery,” and “ardous.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “paying payments,” “set passport,” and “more safety password methods.” These problems make parts of the response harder to understand and limit the precision of your vocabulary. Focus on accurate spelling and natural collocations, and prefer clear phrases such as “make payments,” “set a password,” and “biometric authentication.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “which” and a contrast introduced by “although.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and punctuation sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “people usually prefer to paying payments by using cellphones apps are becoming and increasing” combines incompatible structures, while “these all things creates” has an agreement error. The opening and conclusion also contain sentence-boundary and punctuation problems. Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, then check subject–verb agreement and verb patterns—for example, use “prefer paying” or “prefer to pay,” not “prefer to paying.”

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