Answering Essay Questions in ICT

Discuss in an essay the concept of a cashless society and the

assertion that we will become one. You should refer to the steps
taken by banks and other financial institutions to move us
towards one. Explain why some people feel that it may never be
possible to achieve such a goal. (15)
How to answer the question
To answer this question we can split the question into 2 parts. Part 1 is the one that
talks about how a cashless society would work and its impact on people (main part)
and the second part is the add-on question about never getting to one Part 2 (this
could be called the conclusion that you are coming to).
Part 1 Main part of the question
In any essay question there are 3 different bands of answer: - In a 10 mark answer this
would be
1. Low band: 0-3 marks List of points only with perhaps only disadvantages or
advantages. No conclusion reached. Mainly just identifying points/features
2. Medium: 4-6 marks a poorly argued case with few advantages or
disadvantages. No conclusion is reached. Starting to talk about the advantages
and disadvantages and their impact on a) a person, b) a company or
organisation or c) society in general
3. High: 7-9 marks Several advantages and disadvantages and reached a
conclusion. The positives and negatives of the same point match up and are
specific to the effects on a), b) and c).
NB - For the mathematically minded there are also marks for planning/ having a
conclusion etc. Remember that spelling, punctuation and grammar marks are also
awarded in this type of question.
The best way to make sure that you get the marks for this type of question is to make
sure that you PLAN the essay beforehand (Remember the 6 Ps P Poor Planning leads
to P Poor Performance)
Identify
Debit cards
to remove
money from
a persons
account

Impact on
Individual
person

Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Credit cards
to charge

Positives
People do not need to have
enough cash on them to
cover payment in shops
leads to convenience of
fewer visits to bank and
use of card at all hours

Negatives
People can lose track of
how much money they
actually have and they
spend money they do not
have giving an
overdraft that they
cannot pay off.

People in the street do not

need to carry as much
money around so they are
less likely to be mugged.

Individual
person

Discuss in an essay the concept of a cashless society

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Answering Essay Questions in ICT

and pay back

Use an online
paying
account for
example
PayPal

Use of
mobile phone
account to
charge for
services etc.

Use of
cheques

Direct Debit
and direct
transfer from
a bank
account

Biometric
Payment

Pre-loaded
cards eg
Pay-as-yougo phones,
Gift cards

Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general
Individual
person
Company
or
organisatio
n
Society in
general

Discuss in an essay the concept of a cashless society

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Answering Essay Questions in ICT

Part 2 The Conclusion
Credit is given for coming to a conclusion in the essay. In this question that means
making a decision about if we will ever have a cashless society. This means that the
conclusion can be as little as a single sentence (obviously not too short a sentence!).
Note the conclusion could be the start of your essay the reason you do not put it
there is because the examiner will expect it at the end and you do not want them to
miss it. This is best shown by example:
I feel that we will never get to the stage of having a cashless society because we will
always need to have money in our pockets to help us to budget better when the
money is gone you cannot overspend. Some people need this security.
Part 3 The Quality of written answer
You will also be marked in this question about the quality of your written answer. You
need to make sure that you answer in full sentences, with correct grammar and using
the right level of technical detail. The marks given for this might cover the whole
paper but the examiner will realistically only make up their mind based on the longer
answer questions.

Discuss in an essay the concept of a cashless society

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