Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-02

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 6.0)

At present, the trend of online payment through smartphones, is becoming a common practice by many individuals around the world. There are benefits like track spending habits, organize financial statements but It can be crucial for many people who have limited technological knowledge or do not have bank account . The disadvatages certainly outweigh the advantages.

Due to digital wallet system, people no longer need to carry huge amount of cash while making transactions, as a result there's little risk of potential theft during commuting between destinations. Additionally, it can help people to inspect where there expenses has been taken place. One can look through their online transaction history and figure out exactly how much of their allocated fund has been used for a certain field like grocery, or eating out. This can make an individual more mindful about their budget and reduce impulsive consumption.

However, cashless payment can be difficult for many people, especially for older community who have little knowladge about technology. They may find it a daunting task as this payment system need to be activated through a mobile app, and the setting up procedure requires certain and sometimes lengthy steps. Furthermore, many people like young adults, may not have personal bank account. For them, it can be difficult to make payment while shopping ,and, they might depend on others to meet daily neccessities. Similarly, in many local events and campaigns, people prefer to make small donations to help their community. As this events are based on voluteer support, they dont carry POS terminal that accept online payment. Without physical cash donations, these activities face difficulties while organizing.

To sum up, online payment is more convinient as people do not need to carry around physical cash, and it also helps to improve one's spending habits. But it can create unneccessary burden for an individual who doesn't have proper technical skills or bank account and also demotivate local community organizers while fundings are necessary.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you argue that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. You address both sides with relevant points, including reduced theft and spending awareness, as well as barriers for older people, those without bank accounts, and community events that rely on cash donations. These examples show a sound response to the question. However, the opening briefly lists benefits before stating your position, and the discussion of people without accounts and local fundraising is less fully explained than the spending-tracking point. To strengthen the response, clarify how widespread or serious each disadvantage is and connect each example more explicitly to why the drawbacks outweigh the convenience and budgeting benefits. The position is clear, but some ideas need fuller development to make the comparison more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression from convenience and budgeting to access problems is easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “Additionally,” “However,” and “To sum up” help signal the stages of the argument. Some connections are less smooth or precise, though. For example, “As this events are based on volunteer support” does not clearly connect the lack of payment terminals to the wider disadvantage until the following sentence. The conclusion also repeats the main points rather than drawing the comparison together. Use referencing and transitions more carefully, and make the relationship between each example and your central judgement explicit, to create more consistently controlled cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “digital wallet,” “transaction history,” “allocated fund,” “impulsive consumption,” and “POS terminal.” These choices help explain both the benefits and the practical barriers. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, although some combinations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “where there expenses has been taken place,” “huge amount of cash,” and “demotivate local community organizers while fundings are necessary.” Spelling errors—including “disadvatages,” “knowladge,” and “neccessities”—also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe “tracking spending” and “making small donations.” Greater precision would make the argument sound more fluent and assured.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “as,” “while,” and “especially,” and most of the meaning remains understandable. However, some grammatical errors recur and occasionally make relationships between ideas unclear. Examples include “There are benefits like track spending habits,” where the verb form is incorrect, and “where there expenses has been taken place,” which has problems with agreement and sentence construction. In “this payment system need to be activated,” the subject and verb do not agree; “older community” and “a personal bank account” also need more accurate article or number choices. Review subject–verb agreement, articles, plurals, and clause construction, then proofread punctuation, especially the comma after “smartphones” and spacing around commas. More consistently accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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