Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-15

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)

The world is becoming technological and advance day by day. Upcoming generation probably using all money intraction digitally and there may be no longer use of cash. I personally believe that cash is something one still need and the reasons i will explain subsequent paragraphs.

Initiating with the first view, all the small community markets mostly uses the cash payment instead of card or phone. The small community gets more benefits with using only cash. For instance, one can bargin and get the same thing at the cheaper price, but in mall or bigger outlet, there will not be any bargaining and fixed price with taxes. Secondly, if any cyber crime happen, and for some reason the bank account is locked, then cash will be the only way for the payment at that moment. Additionally, keeping some cash all the time is a wise decision, because at times, there are some techinical issues happens with payment machines or card issue which will not be resolve immediately. Cash is very important tool at that time.

Taking about the drawback since everything has a negative side too. Cash could be hard to count, and there are chances of error of wrong count. For example, if someone did not count the cash properly druing billing, someone ending up either paying high amout of bill, since we cannot claim the money we just gave,thats where big fraud happens, there wont be any proof but in digital payment there is proof how much money gets deducted.

Different people is having different notion yet i believe that cash is still remain with us no matter how much this world will ecome advance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate addresses both parts of the prompt, giving a personal view on whether a cashless society will emerge and explaining why some people might not want to give up cash. The position is stated, although the development of ideas is somewhat limited and contains generalisations. For instance, the points about small community markets and bargaining are relevant, but lack deeper elaboration. Similarly, the point about cybercrime and frozen bank accounts is a valid argument, though the explanation remains slightly basic. While all parts of the task are covered, the overall depth of argumentation aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors, as ideas are relevant but remain somewhat under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and attempts a logical progression of ideas through multiple paragraphs, including an introduction, body paragraphs addressing specific reasons, a counter-perspective paragraph, and a conclusion. However, cohesive devices are at times mechanical or faulty. Transitions like 'Initiating with the first view' and 'Taking about the drawback' are unnatural and do not reflect standard academic or general training cohesive norms. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within sentences occasionally breaks down due to referencing errors and awkward phrasing. These issues place the response firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0, and given the noticeable strain in linking devices, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The candidate uses an adequate range of vocabulary to communicate simple and complex ideas relating to finance and technology. However, there are numerous word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'technological and advance' instead of 'technological and advanced', 'money intraction' instead of 'transactions', and 'paying high amout of bill' instead of 'paying a higher bill'. Spelling errors like 'bargin', 'happens' agreement slips, and 'amout' also appear. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0, making a Band 5.0 a more accurate reflection of the lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is weak. There are frequent errors in tense, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure. Examples include 'Upcoming generation probably using', 'the reasons i will explain subsequent paragraphs', 'if any cyber crime happen', and 'Different people is having different notion'. Punctuation is also problematic, particularly run-on sentences and missing apostrophes in contractions like 'thats'. These errors are frequent and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 5 descriptors where attempts at complex sentences are often faulty and frequent errors persist.

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

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