Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-01
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)
Due the to modren era as tech is booming and lots of people start using their mobile phones for their daily day to day activities. With that the payment system also gets an upgrades like cards, cheques and one of the easy to use system which is UPI payment method or we can say phone payment method. There were some dedicated apps launched for them like google pay, paypal, paytm and so on. As in today world if we see majority of people uses their cards and phones for doing payment which is quite easy to use. For example- if person wants to go for a shopping they do not need carry good chunk of money with them beside this they just carry all that amount in there phones or cards and can pay easily at payment counters.
Moreover some people believes that using cash is easy instead of phone and cards. As they mainly believes that having cash helps a persons when there is not a proper network which cause them hinderance to do a payment and person can pay there by cash.For example- Once I went for a shopping with my friend and I carry some of cash with me. At the payment counter they told me that there card machine is not working and they do not accepted phone payments although the cash I have save me in that sitution but I was feeling very insulting for a moment. Also some old age businessman avoid having payment in cards and phones. Because they believes that payments should be in their hand rather than directly into the bank account which also lead to a scam.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing whether a cashless society will happen and why some individuals may be reluctant to give up cash. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat limited and superficial. For instance, the discussion on why people prefer cash relies on a single personal anecdote about a non-functioning card machine rather than being fully extended with broader arguments. The position is discernible, but the overall treatment of the prompt leans towards a general overview rather than a thoroughly explored discourse, placing this response firmly in the middle band for task response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is a basic organization to the writing, divided into an introduction, a body paragraph supporting the shift to digital payments, and a concluding body paragraph addressing the counter-argument regarding cash. However, the progression is occasionally disjointed, and cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on 'For example-' and 'As'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal logical flow within paragraphs lacks seamless transitions, resulting in a somewhat choppy reading experience that reflects the characteristics of this level.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, with an attempt to incorporate topic-specific terms such as 'UPI payment method', 'card machine', and 'bank account'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, including word-form and spelling inaccuracies like 'modren', 'sitution', and awkward phrasings such as 'good chunk of money'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the range of vocabulary and demonstrate a limited ability to use less common lexical items accurately and naturally.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The text relies on a restricted range of sentence structures, with frequent errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. There are persistent issues with subject-verb agreement, such as 'majority of people uses', article omission ('goes for a shopping'), and incorrect prepositions or tense consistency (e.g., 'there card machine' instead of 'their'). Attempts at complex sentences are often faulty, and punctuation is inconsistent. These frequent grammatical slips across various sentence patterns are characteristic of this level of grammatical control.
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