Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-12

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)

Many people think that they might not be able to pay for things in shop using cash bacause all payments might have to be payed using cards or phones in future, While this has been a great concern for some people as they might not be happy for this transition. I will discuss more deeply about reasons behind people who might not be happy and their concerns in this essay.

To start with this transition of payments from cash to cards or phones, I think it already started to transform all the payments from cash to digital and the necessary steps are being taken by the federal government as they face national security issues because of the cash payments as there is no transperency about the payments made by the individuals and organisations.

The recent incident of illegal purchasing and usage of prohibited substances and goods that cause our young generation to get addicted can become a great threat to the society aswell as the country.

On the other hand these cash payments has become a tool for some organisation to cut their taxations by showing false invoices and expences as there is no proof of payments and they create one easily. These organisations are secrelty using their saved money to fund anti social elements that are against our country.

Not only the corporates and taxing agenceis but the elderly people who are not having a knowledge of the technology are the people who might not be happy with this transition. The government has already started to educate those elderly people.

However, This transition from cash to card transactions will become a new routine oneday with the growing technology and changing situations globally.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: whether cash will disappear in favour of digital payments, and why some people might be unhappy about giving up cash. The writer establishes a position indicating that this transition is already underway due to government initiatives and security concerns. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and lacks sufficient depth or clear supporting examples for each point. For instance, while the essay touches upon national security, illegal substances, tax evasion, and elderly populations, these points are stated rather than fully extended or explored. Consequently, the task response aligns with Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors, specifically fitting the Band 6 profile where all parts are addressed, but some ideas remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement and attempts a logical progression of ideas from an introduction through body paragraphs to a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised, although the boundaries and internal cohesion could be better managed. There is an over-reliance on basic transitional markers, and some sentences run on without clear punctuation, such as the opening sentence which spans multiple clauses linked by conjunctions rather than appropriate stopping points. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as pronoun use referring back to abstract concepts. On balance, the organisational structure reflects the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range, where the overall message is followable despite mechanical cohesion and some faulty referencing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'transition', 'transparency', 'prohibited substances', and 'corporates'. However, there are notable instances of imprecise word choice and spelling errors, such as 'bacause', 'payed', 'transperency', 'expences', and 'agenceis'. Collocations are occasionally unnatural, for example 'discuss more deeply about reasons'. While less common vocabulary is attempted, the frequency of spelling and word-form inaccuracies restricts the lexical score to the Band 5.5 level, as these minor errors occasionally interrupt the reading flow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, featuring subordinate clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'as they face national security issues', 'with the growing technology'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, such as 'might not be having a knowledge' instead of 'do not have knowledge', and issues with punctuation and capitalization ('While this has been...', 'However, This transition...'). Run-on sentences without appropriate punctuation hinder syntactic control. Because errors are frequent enough to cause some strain for the reader while simple structures remain mostly accurate, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

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