Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In the future, people may no longer be able to pay for things in shops using cash. All payments may have to be made by card or using phones. Do you think this will happen one day? Why do you think some people might not be happy to give up using cash?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

it is an increasingly expected that in the following years, individuals will prefer to make payments either by card or using mobile phones rather than cash because it saves time and efforts of both sides costomers and cashier while some critisize. I firmly believe, it will be a possitive development. this essay will discuss this in detail in the next paragraphs.

To begin with, as technology revolutinizing consistancely, I ensure that people can make payments by phones/cards soon while purchasing in store or online which could not only save their time but can also make purchasements possible online. For example pay school fee from school's website, shop online clothes from Amazon website and so on. Thus, people can save time and use it in other productive activities such as cooking, gardening, workout and so on.

However, there might few who would not be in the favour of this development because they do not know use of technology such as grandparents. Therefore, they are habitual of using cash. As result they unable to learn and develop skill.

In conclusion, although it is deneid by some to accept this technological advancements, it will be widely accepted to make purchasements by cards or cellphones.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear overall view that cashless payments are likely to become common, and you identify older people who may resist because they are unfamiliar with technology. These points are relevant, but the response only partially answers the task: the question asks whether cash may disappear entirely, while your opening shifts to people preferring cards or phones, and your conclusion says cashless payments will be widely accepted without clarifying whether cash will no longer be usable. The reasons are also brief; for instance, the point about grandparents is not supported with a specific consequence or example. The response is 49 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop both parts. Explain why cash might remain useful and extend each reason with examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting cashless payments, a paragraph about people who may object, and a conclusion. Sequencing is generally easy to follow, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help show the direction of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and the relationship between ideas is not always clear. The opening sentence combines several points and ends with the unclear phrase “while some critisize.” In the first body paragraph, the examples of paying school fees and shopping online do not fully connect to the claim about paying in shops. Develop a clearer progression by linking each example directly to the question and using pronouns or transitions with precise references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “payments,” “technology,” “cash,” “productive activities,” and “development,” and you attempt some less common expressions such as “technological advancements.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas, but spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the reader pause. Examples include “costomers,” “critisize,” “possitive,” “purchasements,” and “deneid.” Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “make payments by phones/cards” and “in the favour of this development.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. Replacing repeated general terms with precise expressions—such as “cashless transactions” or “digital payment methods”—would also make the discussion clearer and more flexible.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a clause beginning “because” and the construction “not only… but also.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in articles, verb forms, agreement, and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “it is an increasingly expected” has an incorrect structure, while “there might few” and “they unable to learn” omit necessary grammatical elements. The opening sentence is also difficult to follow because several clauses are joined without clear punctuation. Practise building accurate sentences with one main idea and a correctly formed supporting clause. Check articles and auxiliaries, and use full stops to separate ideas before attempting longer structures.

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