Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-22

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)

In today's technogy based economy, it is often argued that soon people are not able to pay for goods thorough physical money because most of payments are preferred by using digital cards or phones. Some individuals are not comfortable with digital money because of inconvenience caused by network issues. I also believe that due to this fact, it is not possible to completely avoid using paper money.

To begin with, the use of digital money could increase security and eliminate practices like theft and illegal money, whereas risks like data breach and phone hacks are still involved. Keeping money digitally could give individual a sense of relief from house invansions and thefts because they barely have any expensive and valueable item at home. Moreover, digital money could wipe out black money, because online transcations are often traceable. Nevertheless, online banking applications are vulnerable to cyberattacks, as hacker could hack any device thorough a link or a phone call and could have unauthourized access to victim's bank account.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 167 words. This significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the essay addresses both parts of the prompt—the likelihood of a cashless future and the reasons for public reluctance—the arguments are underdeveloped. For instance, the discussion on security and cyberattacks is introduced but lacks the depth and specific examples required for a higher band. The position is clear, but the brevity prevents a fully extended response, leading to a partial treatment of the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into two paragraphs, but the progression is limited by the short length. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with' and 'Moreover', but they feel somewhat mechanical. The logical flow is generally easy to follow, but the lack of a concluding paragraph makes the structure feel incomplete. Referencing is mostly clear, though the transition between the benefits of digital money and the risks of cyberattacks could be smoother to better support the overall argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks range and precision. There are several spelling errors, such as 'technogy', 'thorough' (used instead of 'through'), 'invansions', 'valueable', 'transcations', and 'unauthourized'. These errors are noticeable and detract from the professional tone. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'cyberattacks' and 'digital money', the range is limited, and the repeated errors suggest a need for more careful proofreading and a broader command of academic lexis.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'people are not able to pay' (tense usage), 'most of payments are preferred' (article usage), and 'hacker could hack' (missing article). Additionally, the sentence 'Keeping money digitally could give individual a sense of relief' lacks the necessary article before 'individual'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors, combined with the limited variety of complex structures, restricts the score.

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

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