Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

This is highly believed that in coming days, paying for goods in shops will be digital, that is from cards and phone applications rather than cash. While some people might get disappointed with this advance approach. As far as I am concerned, I would say yes this will happen in future very soon. This essay will discuss about the new approach and the reason why people might not happy to pay digitally.

In my perspective, paying from cards and mobile phone applications is more secure and suitable method. Additionally, there will be no fear of threfting cash. In future, this approach will be highly recognize because you can pay for high cost bills immedietly without any stress. For instance, people will not have to worry about payments in case if they forget the cash or have insufficient cash. They can easily pay from their cards and via online methods.

However, some people might find this method inconvienent because of network issues. As seen, sometimes the system did not work properly and shows error. This makes them waiting for hours for the payment. For this reason they find bringing cash an easy method and make them sad about the new payment system. Resutantly, in case of any inconvienence by online method, those who bring cash can easily pay for their shoping rather than waiting.

In conclusion, digital method of payments will be happening soon in future because this is safest and accessible approach. People will not have to bring a huge amount of cash in stores, which also can be threft at any moment. With this latest system, people can easily pay their large amount bills. Furthermore, this method might be not suitable for many people and makes them sad because they believe that bringing cash is better than paying from cards and online system as there will be delayed payments if netwrok connections are poor and not reachable at the store on that moment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the task by giving a clear opinion on whether cash will disappear and discussing the reasons why some people might feel unhappy about giving up cash, such as network issues. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the ideas are somewhat repetitive and lack deeper development, as the explanations tend to restate points rather than extending them with rich examples. For instance, the mention of network errors is a valid point, but the elaboration remains basic. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0, as all parts of the prompt are addressed with relevant, albeit somewhat underdeveloped, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing each prompt requirement, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'In my perspective', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward phrasing like 'Resutantly, in case of any inconvienence'. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate, but the overall progression of ideas feels slightly disjointed due to repetitive language and minor organizational awkwardness. This performance aligns well with Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'advance approach', 'insufficient', and 'inconvenient'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'threfting' instead of 'theft', 'immedietly', 'inconvienent', 'Resutantly', and 'netwrok'. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message despite these inaccuracies, the response fits the Band 6.0 criteria.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses ('in case they forget the cash') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward constructions, such as 'This is highly believed that', 'making them waiting', and issues with subject-verb agreement and preposition usage ('pay from their cards'). Punctuation and sentence boundaries occasionally falter, but meaning remains generally clear and communication is rarely impeded. This mix of complex forms with persistent errors is characteristic of a Band 6.0 performance.

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