Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-13

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

More and more people nowadays visit well-known places to take photographs of themselves, without looking at the place.

Why do you think this is happening?

Is it a positive or a negative trend?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In recent years, individuals travel well-known destinations to capture photos of themselves, without idea of that place. This trend should be considered a negative development as people have lack of information about the new place and doesn't have perfect planning.

On the one hand, travelers have not gain enough knowledge for this place so can be seen as a negative development because if people visit this types of place without any idea then they can get stuck because they are not familier with local language , local traditions. Beside this, they just see the photos of area and plan to visit just to capture photos and upload on social media. For example most of the people travel this places for fun and in the end they don't know were they are.

On the other hand, people just see there relatives and friends were they went to tour and they also select same destination without any planning. People get exited by seeing others picture and think this is the good place to take photographs and they go without making any itineri this things make big trouble after reaching the place. Additionally, this is not good sign to travel like this. For instance, in this situation people don't get proper hotels to stay without booking.

In conclusion, although individuals travel without proper information which makes them fell in any worst situation and lack of proper planning also makes them nervous as the hotels are not available for stay. This make difficult for them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the trend and the opinion on whether it is positive or negative. However, the development of ideas is limited. The reasons provided—social media influence and lack of planning—are relevant but remain somewhat superficial. The argument that it is a negative trend is clear, but the supporting examples, such as 'getting stuck' or 'not finding hotels,' are repetitive and lack depth. To improve, you should expand on the underlying psychological or societal motivations, such as the 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) or the commodification of travel experiences, rather than focusing solely on the logistical inconveniences of poor planning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For instance, 'Beside this' and 'in this situation' are used in ways that do not always flow naturally. There is also a lack of variety in linking words, with repetitive transitions like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand.' The progression of ideas within paragraphs is sometimes disjointed, particularly in the second paragraph where the transition between social media influence and the lack of hotel bookings feels abrupt. Improving the use of referencing and varied transition signals would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing, such as 'good place,' 'big trouble,' and 'not good sign.' There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'without idea of that place' (should be 'without any knowledge of the location') and 'fell in any worst situation' (should be 'find themselves in a difficult situation'). To improve, focus on learning topic-specific collocations related to tourism and social media, and try to use more sophisticated synonyms to avoid repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('people... doesn't have'), article usage ('visit this types of place'), and tense consistency ('travelers have not gain'). Additionally, there are several punctuation and spelling errors, such as 'familier,' 'were' instead of 'where,' and 'itineri.' While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would significantly improve your score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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