Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-12
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)
Nowadays,people start using online shopping apps for their shopping.some people believe that in future payments to be made by card or using phones and some people believe that anything cannot take place of cash even in future.According to my experience and observation payments by cards or using phones is the future and everybody are happy using these methods.I give certain reasons below to support my words.
Firstly,carrying cash everywhere is very difficult and risky because anyone may snatch the money from you on gun point or there are some chances that you might throw that money.But online money donot have these problems there for the use of online cash is increasing in most of the countries.
Secondly,shopping marketing is also shifting to online and people are not able to buy product by cash on these paltforms.Therefore,they need online money to pay online to order the productsThe products are delivered to your door so there is no need to go marketing.This thing encourage more people to use online shopping paltform and online cash also.
Thirdly,payments by using card or phones are pretty simple as there is no need to count money before giving to shopkeeper.You just have to scan the QR code write money and your security pin and transcition is successful.Security pin make your online money more secure.
Overall,payments by card or using phones is simple,secure and reliable.These factors are the reason why people like online payments method instead of payments by using cash.People might be happy to give up cash because it is a part of revolution which never stop.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the likelihood of a cashless future and the reasons why some people might be reluctant to adopt it. However, the second part of the prompt is addressed only briefly in the conclusion, where you mention it is a 'part of revolution', which does not fully explain the concerns of those who might be unhappy to give up cash (e.g., privacy, technical failure, or exclusion of the elderly). The ideas are generally relevant but remain somewhat superficial. To improve, you should dedicate a full paragraph to the counter-arguments or concerns regarding the loss of cash to ensure a more balanced and developed discussion.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'Thirdly', and 'Overall' to signal your points. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'This thing encourage more people'. Additionally, some sentences are run-on or lack proper punctuation, which disrupts the logical progression. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that connects back to the main argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is quite repetitive and lacks precision. You frequently use basic terms like 'online money' and 'shopping', which could be replaced with more sophisticated alternatives like 'digital currency', 'electronic transactions', or 'e-commerce'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'shopping marketing' and 'snatch the money... on gun point'. While the meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is limited. Expanding your range to include more topic-specific collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing will significantly improve your score in this area.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('everybody are happy', 'online money donot have'), missing articles, and punctuation errors. For instance, 'Nowadays,people' lacks a space after the comma, and 'transcition' is misspelled. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and proofreading for common errors like missing articles and punctuation spacing before submitting your work.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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