Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-03

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 future, people may no longer need to pay for their purchase using cash. Rather, all transaction may have to be carried out by card or using phone. Technical advancements allow people to use card or electronic card via phone which is convinient for user than handling cash. On the contrary, some people will not be happy to give up using cash.

In past five years, e-wallet have taken over the market having all of the user's debit and credit card electronically under a single application for the payments. It allows the users to pay anywhere in the world where the shop accepts the payments by card. Therefore, most places are equipped with card payment device and that would leads to negligible use of cash. Currently, the studies showed that 97% of transactions in metro cities were paid using card.

Cash allows individual to purchase everywhere especially in locations where stores are not yet advance enough to receive payment wirelessly. Certain reports show that stores in the metro city are well equipped with such contactless payment machine, while in the countryside there are majority of them still rely on cash. Hence, the availability of cash is everywhere compare to occasionally available card option. In the United States, all of the countryside gas stations accepts cash only payment as they put on less trust on card payment due to poor network connectivity.

In conclusion. both the methods have their own benefits. Card payment system works in cities with proper technological infrastructure among the store. while cash is accepted everywhere in the world as it is the most fundamental form of payment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both whether a cashless future will happen and why some people might be reluctant to give up cash. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack sufficient depth. For example, the point about network connectivity issues in the United States countryside is mentioned, but it is not fully explored in relation to the broader theme. The position is generally clear throughout the essay, and relevant ideas are presented, but the support and examples tend to be somewhat limited, preventing the response from achieving a higher level of task fulfillment.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, as well as distinct body paragraphs dedicated to different aspects of the prompt. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transitional phrases like 'On the contrary' and 'Hence' are used, but referencing and logical progression between sentences occasionally feel abrupt. For instance, the transition from discussing metro city statistics to the benefits of cash lacks smooth linkage. Paragraphing is utilised, but the internal flow of ideas needs tighter integration to ensure a clearer overall progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'technical advancements', 'contactless payment', and 'infrastructures'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling errors that reflect a developing lexical control, such as 'convinient' instead of 'convenient', 'transaction' instead of 'transactions', and 'compare' instead of 'compared'. While these inaccuracies do not seriously impede communication, they occasionally distract the reader and prevent the vocabulary score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures such as relative clauses and conditional ideas. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('all of the countryside gas stations accepts', 'there are majority of them'), missing articles ('in metro city', 'by card or using phone'), and incorrect punctuation, such as a full stop used incorrectly in the final paragraph ('In conclusion. both the methods...'). These errors require some effort from the reader to interpret, though communication is generally maintained.

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