Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-10

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 6.0)

In these digitalized era, increasing number of people prefer the payment either using their credit cards or smart phones. Many people believe, reducing number of people will use cash in the upcoming years. Here, I would like to explain the advantages of smart payment and clinical reasonings for cash.

To begin with, there are number of advantages of using credit card. First and foremost is discount. Many shops and online websites give special discount while using credit cards. These allow to save money while shopping. Another reason is, smart usage of credit card helps in unexpected problem. Excessive usage of it enables a person to use higher expense limit. Individuals may use this limit in emergency situations, where it may help to pay the whole amount in one take instead of paying from their own pocket.

Apart from this payment through smartphones make it much more smooth and relaxing. People do not worry about paying extra and it is also consider as time saving .

On the other hand, many people still prefer to use case in their daily life. Digitally illustrate people do not want to be part of any online fraud or cybercrime. In growing digitalization, fraud people steal personalized information and bank account details of innocent people and take all of their savings. Therefore, these could be the reason people still do not want to change their mode of payment.

In conclusion, although smart payment provides many discounts and save time and efforts, the consequences of negative effects are far more than the positive ones.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the likelihood of a cashless future and the reasons for resistance. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The arguments regarding credit card benefits (discounts and emergency limits) are clear, but the explanation of smartphone payments is underdeveloped. The conclusion contradicts the body paragraphs by stating that negative effects outweigh positive ones, despite the body paragraphs focusing primarily on the benefits of digital payments. To improve, ensure your position is consistent throughout and provide more detailed examples for each point raised.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Apart from this', and 'On the other hand'. However, the flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For instance, the transition between the benefits of credit cards and the conclusion is abrupt. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase 'these could be the reason', where the antecedent is vague. Improving the variety and precision of linking words would help the ideas progress more smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several instances of inaccurate word choice and collocation. Examples include 'clinical reasonings' (which is contextually incorrect), 'digitally illustrate people' (likely meant 'digitally illiterate'), and 'fraud people' (should be 'fraudsters' or 'criminals'). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors indicate a lack of precision. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more natural collocations and ensuring that the words chosen accurately reflect the intended meaning in a formal context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('there are number of advantages'), missing articles ('in these digitalized era'), and awkward phrasing ('it is also consider as time saving'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma placement. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader. Focusing on basic grammatical accuracy, such as article usage and verb forms, will significantly improve the quality of your writing.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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