Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-14
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, people are exploring the famous tourist attraction places, just to take photos of themselves, instead of honoring the different culture. I believe this trend is influenced by the social media and it is creating a major drawback as it can reduce peoples appreciation of different cultures and turn travel into a way of seeking online attraction.
Social media nowadays has become a hotspot site to explore new places for tourist to visit. People share their photos and videos surrounded by places that attracts tourists to visit. However, by following this trend people seem to have forgotten the real adrenaline to feel when visit places that represents countries culture and their histories. For example, most people visit Taj mahal just to take photos of themselves, rather than acknowledging the structural beauty and history behind building the castle.
In conclusion, the popularity of social media is a major reason why people increasingly focus on taking photographs of themselves while visiting famous places. In my view, this is a negative trend because it can make travel less meaningful and reduce people's appreciation of the destinations they visit.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses both parts of the prompt, identifying social media as a primary cause and expressing a clear negative stance. However, the essay is significantly under-length at 187 words, which prevents the development of ideas to the required depth. The arguments are presented but lack the necessary supporting evidence or detailed explanation required for a higher band. Because the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement, it is penalized under Task Achievement, as the ideas remain underdeveloped and the task is not fully satisfied.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into three paragraphs, which provides a basic structure. There is a logical progression from the introduction to the body and the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. For instance, the transition between the introduction and the body paragraph could be smoother. While the paragraphing is appropriate for the length of the text, the overall flow is hindered by the brevity of the content, making the progression feel somewhat abrupt.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. Phrases like 'hotspot site' and 'online attraction' are slightly unnatural in this context. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'honoring the different culture' (should be 'appreciating different cultures') and 'building the castle' (the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum, not a castle). To improve, you should aim for more sophisticated collocations and precise terminology related to tourism and social behavior.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'people are exploring' (should be 'people explore' for a general trend), 'the different culture' (should be 'different cultures'), and 'when visit places' (should be 'when visiting places'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure is somewhat repetitive. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to limit the score to the 5.5–6.0 range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.