Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-21

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 7.0)

In this era, for the sake of taking photographs of themselves, people are visiting famous destinations without exploring them. This happens because of social media and online attention. I believe that it is a negative trend because it can prevent people from genuinely experiencing the places they visit.

To begin with, one major reason for this trend is that a growing number of social media influencers showcase themselves as living a more luxurious and successful life than others by sharing attractive photographs. As a result, people take attractive photos rather than knowing the history, culture and significance of a particular place. For instance, the Taj Mahal is a prime example of this, as individuals explore the place just to take pictures; they are not enjoying the beauty and history. Moreover, nowadays cameras are high quality and capture every moment of your life.

However, I believe that this trend is negative when photography is the main purpose of the visit. Tourists who concentrate mainly on photos fail to focus on the beauty of the place, history and culture. This can make travel less meaningful and reduce opportunities for genuine cultural understanding. In addition, they only give in to the influence of uploading attractive photographs to social media.

In conclusion, the popularity of social media and the desire to preserve and share memories are the main reasons why people increasingly take photographs of themselves at famous destinations. Although photography can help people remember and communicate their experiences, I believe the trend is largely negative when it prevents travellers from appreciating the places themselves

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 from the introduction and maintained throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the influence of social media and the loss of cultural appreciation. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about high-quality cameras is mentioned but not fully linked to the core argument of why people ignore the location itself. To reach a higher band, the arguments could be extended with more depth or nuanced examples to fully explore the implications of this trend.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'In addition', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition between the discussion of social media influencers and the mention of high-quality cameras feels slightly abrupt. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is clear, meeting the requirements for a solid band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. The student uses relevant terms such as 'luxurious', 'significance', 'cultural understanding', and 'destinations'. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary, though some phrasing is slightly repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'attractive photographs'. While the range is adequate to convey the message clearly, it lacks the sophistication and precision in collocation that would characterize a higher band. There are no significant spelling errors, and the word choice is consistently accurate enough to avoid any confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are clear and error-free, which ensures that communication is never impeded. There are some minor grammatical slips, such as 'people are visiting famous destinations without exploring them' (which is grammatically correct but could be more varied) and the slightly awkward phrasing 'give in to the influence of uploading'. The control over punctuation is good, and the sentence variety is sufficient for this level. To improve, the student could incorporate more varied subordinate clauses and advanced grammatical structures to demonstrate greater flexibility.

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