Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-21
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 technological era, most of the individuals are depends on digital payment method for their daily uses like grocery and shopping instead of using cash. It is believed that in upcoming years, people will not like to make their bills by giving cash to shopkeepers. All of the payments may have to make by using digital mode. As per my perpective this will happen one day due to the demand of new inventions while some part of the society might not stop using cash. Everything will be discussed in upcoming paragraphs.
In my opinion these days, there are a lot of demand of smartphones and other new technologies especially for payments such as shopping, daily household needs and drugs etecetra. First and foremost, some people believe that digital mode of payment is convienent for them as compared to cash because they do not need to carry cash. Adding to this, individuals can easily pay with their cards like credit and debit or with their phones by using various kind of banking applications. Further, people reckons that this will help them or governement officials in reducing theft or other physical violence. Moreover, due to these pros i believe that most of the people will stop using cash one day.
On the other side, some part of the society will not be happy with using phones or cards for all bills because they do not have complete trust on new techonlogies. Furthermore, individuals claims that their are ample of chances of having digital fraud with them such as cyber crime and fraud transcatiions. For instance, in India a old person do not know how to make online payments and by mistake he clicked on wrong link which was shared by a shopkeeper with him because of that he host his all account balance. Not only for old people but digital payments are not easy to do for illitrate individuals as well. Lastly because of increasing online frauds people will not compeletly stop using cash for their payments in different shops.
Overall it can be reiterated that there is a huge demand of online payments thesedays and in upcoming years officials may fully stop using cash for payments in small or big shops however, some people beleive that it is not good idea to stop using cash compeletly.
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 prompt, discussing both whether a cash-free society will happen and why some people might be unhappy about giving up cash. A clear position is maintained throughout the response, supported by ideas regarding convenience, theft reduction, digital fraud, and accessibility for older or illiterate individuals. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed and rely on general statements. For instance, the example from India provides a relevant scenario, but the overall elaboration could be extended further to reach a higher band. Nevertheless, the requirements of the task are met adequately, aligning with a Band 6.0 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing an overall logical progression. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other side' are used to guide the reader through the arguments. However, referencing and transitions are at times mechanical, and the introduction features an overly formulaic template sentence ('Everything will be discussed in upcoming paragraphs') which detracts slightly from natural flow. Paragraphing is present and mostly appropriate, leading to a consistent Band 6.0 score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'technological era', 'digital payment method', and 'digital fraud'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('convienent', 'techonlogies', 'transcatiions', 'illitrate', 'compeletly', 'thesedays') and awkward word choices ('most of the individuals are depends', 'host his all account balance'). These errors occasionally interrupt the reading flow but do not impede overall communication. The lexical range is sufficient for a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and relative clauses. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, with frequent errors in verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions (e.g., 'most of the individuals are depends', 'All of the payments may have to make', 'individuals claims that their are ample of chances'). Punctuation is also weak in places, with run-on structures and missing commas. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, the grammar profile fits the Band 5.0 descriptors closely.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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