Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-16
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 the upcoming years, people will start paying for everything with cards or phone pay instead of using cash at shops. In my opinion,this change will affect some of the people who has a habit of carriying paper money but the furture is unperdictable, may be individuals start using cards more later on.
On the hand hand, there are some points in the favour that plastic money is more conveint and safe to carry. To explain in detail, some of the people who are travelling a lot overseas its easy for them to do payments by cards such as businessman,famous personalities and many more. Moreover, benefits of using cards that individuals getting fron companies and banks. To elaborate it, some companies sell it with less interest values and gives us more cashback while shopping as well in case of emergenices they provides that card with money in it. For example, if our card is lost or someone use it ,companies give us our credit back in our account whatever the amount used by someone else from our card.
On the other hand, If the individuals will be cashless in future,it might put impact on the elder people,who are less aware about the technology and habitual of using cash from longer periods of time. For example, mu grandmother is around 90 years of age and she knows to count money by herself but she is not aware about using phone or cards. In addition to it, cyber crime and scams are more these days and increasing day by day. That 's why, its not secure to do payments online. Moreover, some people do not like their money will be traced by government and banks because digital transactions leave record for them.
In conclusion, Although there will be some benefits of using cards in future in terms of safety and ease of accessiblity but becoming a cashless is hard for some people in future related to records of spending, more expenditure and less privacy.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate addresses all parts of the task, discussing both whether a cashless society will happen and why some people might be unhappy about giving up cash. The introduction states a personal opinion, and the body paragraphs explore relevant ideas such as convenience, travel, elderly demographics, security concerns, and government tracking. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or repetitive, such as the discussion on bank promotions and card loss. The position is generally clear throughout, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed, though some ideas lack full extension and deep elaboration.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into clear paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. Transitional phrases such as 'On the hand hand', 'To explain in detail', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are utilized to guide the reader through the text. However, there are some mechanical or awkward cohesive devices ('On the hand hand' instead of 'On the one hand') and occasional referencing issues. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but overall progression and logical linking occasionally feel formulaic and slightly disjointed, which is characteristic of Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The candidate attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate to the topic, including terms such as 'cyber crime', 'cashless', 'expenditure', and 'convenient'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'phone pay' instead of 'digital payments', 'carriying' instead of 'carrying', 'furture' instead of 'future', 'unperdictable' instead of 'unpredictable', 'conveint' instead of 'convenient', and 'accessiblity'. While the meaning is generally clear despite these inaccuracies, the frequency of lexical errors places this performance securely at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional sentences ('if our card is lost...', 'If the individuals will be cashless...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors that recur throughout the essay. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('people who has a habit', 'companies provides'), incorrect tense usage ('might put impact', 'some people do not like their money will be traced'), and missing articles or incorrect preposition use. Although these errors do not completely impede communication, they hinder overall fluency and accuracy, fitting the Band 5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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