Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-25

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 6.5)

Looking at the advancements in technology and the governments pushing the agenda of digitisation, I believe this will definitely replace the usage of cash with online payments and cards.

The difficulty to manage cash by customers in the shops whether it be asking for change after making the payment or finding the right bills when making the payment makes the process long. Even the people at billing counters expect the payment process to be fast and there is no faster process than phone or card payments. Even I have experienced some shopping centres have stopped accepting cash when purchasing items of amount greater than 10K Rs, as keeping accounts for large amount of cash gets difficult. As of quick commerce shops such as Swiggy and Zomato, they also prefer phone payments as cash handling adds another step to their process.

On the other hand, I believe some people might not be happy to give up using cash, specially the once in their late 50's. Adapting to newer technology and then trusting it for making payments is not easy for all after a certain age. Also due to the increase in online scams some people do hesitate to make digital payments. My parents believe that when we use plastic money or digital money we tend to spend more than what we are supposed to, as with the ease of making payment we don't realise on how much are we spending in the shop.

Although, for some people it will not be easy to adapt to make digital payments, but with the advancement in technology and the ease of payments at shops, soon a lot of shops will remove cash as a payment method.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the likelihood of a cashless future and the reasons for resistance. The position is clear from the introduction. Ideas are relevant, such as the convenience of digital payments and the concerns of the elderly regarding security and overspending. However, the development is somewhat limited; for instance, the point about '10K Rs' is a specific anecdote that could have been expanded into a broader argument about business efficiency. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more depth rather than listing several brief examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main aspects of the prompt. Cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'Also', and 'Although' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the discussion of quick commerce and the second paragraph could be more sophisticated. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'digitisation' and 'plastic money'. However, there are minor errors in word choice and phrasing, such as 'the once in their late 50's' (should be 'those') and 'As of quick commerce shops' (should be 'Regarding' or 'In terms of'). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and varied vocabulary would elevate the response to a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'the difficulty to manage' (should be 'the difficulty of managing') and 'don't realise on how much are we spending' (should be 'don't realise how much we are spending'). Punctuation is generally functional, though some sentences are slightly clunky. The errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and preposition usage would improve accuracy.

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