Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-15

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 6.5)

Nowadays, a lot of people are visiting popular locations to take their photos instead of enjoying the moment. The main reason behind this is social media platforms. Instead of actually enjoying their life, they wants to create illusion that they are enjoying. In my opinion, this is largely negative trend as their followers might feel they are not doing enough in life and also impacts individuals negatively by creating fake persona.

It is true that social media has changed how people . Many wants to create a fake online presence that they have achieved a lot in their life. As a result, these people visits expensive restaurant, foreign country, etc. just to show that they can afford these places. Many influencers visits these places to target a certain group of people. For example, recently quite a few influencers have started visiting popular temples to portray themselves as religious and to gain certain religious group of followers. Similarly, many follows beaches and mountains to attract travellers.

In my opinion, this has largely negative impact on people's life. Many feel inferior by looking at photos of their friends and family member visiting these places. I personally starts feeling inferior when I see my friends visiting these place while I am trying to build my career. In addition to that, this habit might make people forget about the importance of the places they are visiting and create inconvenience for others. For example, when I went to Goa, India, there is a popular point to enjoy the sunset. However, tourists were so busy capturing the sunset, that I was not able to enjoy it properly.

To conclude, there is a growing trend of people visiting locations to take photos, without admiring the place. Improving their online image and getting external validations are the main reasons behind this trend. However, this will have more negative impact than positive. As it makes others feel inferior and missing out.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the trend and the evaluation of whether it is positive or negative. The position is clear throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the influence of social media and the psychological impact of 'fake personas'. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, particularly regarding the feeling of inferiority. While the examples provided (e.g., influencers at temples, the experience in Goa) are relevant, they could be more deeply analysed to fully explore the implications of the trend. Overall, the response meets the requirements of the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organised into paragraphs, each with a clear central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In my opinion', 'As a result', and 'In addition to that', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by minor grammatical issues. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas from the cause to the personal and societal impact is logical. To improve, the student should focus on using a wider variety of linking words to create a more natural flow between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'online presence', 'external validations', and 'portray'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'many follows beaches' (should be 'many follow') and 'I personally starts feeling' (subject-verb agreement error). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and sophisticated vocabulary would be needed to reach a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, such as 'they wants to create', 'many visits', and 'I personally starts'. These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. Punctuation is generally handled well, though some sentences are slightly awkward in their construction. To improve, the student needs to pay closer attention to basic grammatical rules, particularly verb endings and pluralisation, as these persistent errors prevent the essay from reaching a higher band score.

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