Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-24

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)

While it has been suggested that latest technology will going to replace the traditional method of payment, I hold that payment via card or phones have play crucial role in

Technology is widely considered to be the primary reason for this shift. In near future, paper money would not be accepted by any shops, supermarkets , and the likes. Because every thing will be going to be digitalized and AI will be the next employees. Take Apple, for example, the renowned phone company : they will going to open a fully robotic store without any human interaction, which will not going to accept the payment by cash. Hence, it is clear that paper money would not be accepted in future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, as it is only 120 words long. This significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the essay attempts to address the prompt by discussing the shift to digital payments and mentioning the role of technology, the second part of the prompt—why some people might be unhappy about giving up cash—is entirely ignored. Due to the severe under-length and the failure to address all parts of the task, the response is limited in its ability to develop a coherent argument, resulting in a low score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay lacks a clear structure. The introduction is incomplete and grammatically fragmented, making it difficult to follow the writer's position. While there is an attempt to use cohesive devices like 'Hence' and 'for example', the overall progression of ideas is disjointed. Paragraphing is present, but the content within the paragraphs is underdeveloped and lacks logical flow. The transition between the idea of technological advancement and the conclusion is abrupt, and the lack of a proper concluding paragraph further hinders the overall coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary range is quite limited and repetitive. The writer relies on basic terms such as 'latest technology', 'shops', and 'paper money'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'digitalized' (which is less standard than 'digitized' in this context) and 'the likes' used in an informal manner. The attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary is minimal, and the restricted range prevents the expression of more nuanced ideas. To improve, the student needs to incorporate a wider variety of topic-specific vocabulary related to finance and technology.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that often impede clarity. Examples include 'latest technology will going to replace', 'payment via card or phones have play', and 'they will going to open'. These errors involve incorrect verb tenses, subject-verb agreement issues, and awkward sentence structures. The range of grammatical structures is very limited, consisting mostly of simple or poorly constructed complex sentences. The high frequency of errors throughout the text indicates a lack of control over basic grammatical rules, which significantly affects the readability of the essay.

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