Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-30

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 this growing world of fast socio-economic opportunity and globalization. I strongly agree with statement that in the near future, people may no longer need cash to pay at store and every payment will be digitalized which mean paying by card or using your phone to do so.

To being with, being an economic student, I have observed a great change in transaction from past decades. When people started to gain the consciousness that they can't survive on the things they were growing they need to exchange item amongst themselves. Thats when barter system was introduced in the market where you had to exchange your item with someone else who has the thing which you want to get. Some how this transactional method was a not a hit as you might need to get pulses, However the person harvesting pulse might not be really into getting rice for an exchange. Thats when currency was introduced in the society since then the types of currency has changed in regards to the needs and demands of the people evolving.

Now, when I talk about how the world has completely changed from the past to 20th century seeing the development and technology advancement it feels surreal. The first world country like USA and China has already started the prototype of digitalizing different methods of payment. As they are the leading economy they really had thought a lot through this as being the leaders nation-wide they are also top in the list of tourism. When a traveller wants to visit a foreign land he/she might not to be very keen to exchange the required currency and carry a hefty amount along with them all time, they might in fear all time thinking what if they loose the money or get robbed. It will be a great relief for business stakeholders and tourist if they could use their smartphone and cards for completing their transaction this help in boosting the tourism and business opportunity for a country.

Many country after being inspired from the leading country's has already started to take initiative to promote cashless transaction in exchange of business or purchase. As they started to educate people of their country how is this being done and it is convenient for themselves.

It will not be a mistake to claim that people of future will definitely switch to the new version of payment that will the "cashless transaction" which implies people will carry their hard earned money in the form of cash and their beloved smartphones. The biggest advantage of this is it will more safe and to secure as they have security of authorizing to complete a transaction as it needs pin or code for the money to go through from one's bank to the merchant.

With advancement society also has challenges to overcome. From studying the people from the roots will be a great difficulty to teach or convence orthodox population to switch to smartphone as many of them don't trust the bank with their money which makes impossible to teach them how to cope with new system of transaction which will make them furuious as some people don;t like to change their way of living to being a part of fast changing society. "Lets see where the modern world will take their soceity as

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the likelihood of a cashless future and the reasons for resistance. However, the development is uneven. The historical overview of the barter system is largely irrelevant and takes up significant space that could have been used to better explore the reasons for public reluctance. The discussion on why people might not be happy to give up cash is somewhat limited to the 'orthodox population' and trust issues, lacking depth regarding privacy concerns or the digital divide. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments could be more focused and analytical to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical progression is occasionally disrupted by the lengthy historical digression in the second paragraph. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To being with' and 'Now', but some transitions feel mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Some how this transactional method was a not a hit'. Referencing is generally clear, but the final paragraph is incomplete, ending abruptly mid-sentence, which negatively impacts the overall coherence and the sense of a finished argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'not a hit' (informal), 'leading economy' (should be 'leading economies'), and 'furuious' (spelling error). While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'transactional method' and 'digitalized', the overall range is somewhat limited. The repetition of basic structures and occasional misuse of collocations prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Examples include 'I strongly agree with statement' (missing article), 'To being with' (incorrect verb form), 'Many country after being inspired from the leading country's' (pluralization and possessive errors), and 'they might in fear all time' (missing verb). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with commas and apostrophes. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors is noticeable and occasionally distracts the reader.

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