Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-17
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)
A significant number of people spend their time in visiting popular places today, but rather then admiring the beauty of famous places they spend time in getting captured themselves in camera. I strongly believe that it is a negative trend and this strongly needs personal assessment by an individual.
Beautiful and famous places are meant to be admired and people should have curiosity to know more about these places. Such places provides peace of mind and internal happiness. But unfortunately, it is found that as soon as an individual gets into famous areas, they start getting photograph of themselves rather than enjoying the beauty of surrounding. This is because, many people are interested in getting selfies as they would like to update their social profiles with posts of their selfies. Moreover, this is a way to share their information with all their followers. They would simply want to look amazingly superb with beautiful backgrounds. In addition to this, posting selfies from famous places is also the way, where people show-off others about the places where they reached before any of their friends and relative.
In addition to this, to get likes and comments many people risks their lives by climbing a cliff or standing in middle of fast flowing water to get perfect photographs of them, which can be posted on internet for gaining maximum number of like and comments. Ultimately, people would like to have collection of selfies rather then enjoying the beauty of nature.
To conclude, it is not wrong to say that if we spend maximum time for the purpose of getting selfies by risking our lives in many case, we are missing the beauty of nature. Beautiful places hold number of untold stories, which can be heard only if we dedicate our hundred percent to our surroundings.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
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 from the introduction and maintained throughout. The ideas, such as the desire for social media validation and the risks taken for photos, are relevant and extended. However, the development could be more sophisticated; for instance, the discussion on 'untold stories' in the conclusion is a bit abstract and could have been integrated earlier as a counterpoint to the superficial nature of photography. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, such as the motivation for social media updates or the physical risks involved. Cohesive devices like 'Moreover', 'In addition to this', and 'Ultimately' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points. To reach a higher band, the student should aim for more varied and subtle cohesive links, as the current structure relies heavily on standard signposting phrases at the beginning of sentences.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common collocations, such as 'internal happiness' and 'untold stories'. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'getting captured themselves in camera' (should be 'being captured on camera') and 'show-off others' (should be 'show off to others'). The repetition of 'selfies' and 'beautiful' limits the range. To improve, the student should focus on more precise collocations and avoid repetitive vocabulary by using synonyms or more descriptive adjectives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'rather then' (should be 'rather than'), 'Such places provides' (subject-verb agreement error), and 'they start getting photograph of themselves' (missing article and pluralization). Additionally, there are minor punctuation issues. While the student attempts complex sentences, the control over them is inconsistent. Increasing the frequency of error-free sentences and refining the use of articles and prepositions would significantly improve the score in this criterion.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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