Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-25

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)

In recent years, there has been a trend of taking pictures at popular places rather than exploring them. There are a plethora of reasons, such as social media influence and showing off. However, I firmly believe that it has massive drawbacks leading to a negative trend. The following paragraphs will further elucidate the reasons behind it and pertinent examples to support my opinion.

There is no denying that we are surrounded by technology and social media nowadays. Taking photographs is a way to show other people that you visited a place and get recognition. Besides that, for example, visitors are posting photos on different platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, and they want to observe reactions to their looks, poses and appearance from viewers. Apart from that, pictures are being stored by people on their mobile phones and laptops, and it is the best way to keep our memories and beautiful moments of life safe; later, we can see them again and feel the remembrance of those moments.

There are various disadvantages to this, and I will prove my inclination towards the negative trend. Firstly, tourists are busy taking photographs when they go on tour at places and do not learn about the cultural significance of ancient times; as a result, the cultural importance has vanished. Furthermore, they forget to engage with the community living there in places and learn something about their lifestyle and ways of living.

To recapitulate, individuals are more interested in pictures of themselves and well-known places to show their status and get others’ opinions on social media, even though they are playing an important role in vanishing the historical importance of the places. That is why I believe it is a negative development, and they should take limited photos and focus more on learning cultures and histories.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the trend and your opinion on whether it is positive or negative. Your position is clear from the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant; however, the development could be more sophisticated. For instance, while you mention social media and status, expanding on the psychological aspect of 'FOMO' (fear of missing out) or the commodification of travel experiences would have added more depth. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, but ensure that your supporting examples are more specific to avoid generalizations, such as the vague mention of 'ancient times' or 'cultural importance'. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. You use paragraphing effectively to separate the reasons from the disadvantages. Cohesive devices such as 'Besides that', 'Apart from that', 'Furthermore', and 'To recapitulate' are used to link sentences and paragraphs. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. For example, the phrase 'Apart from that' is used in a way that doesn't perfectly align with the preceding point about social media. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring they flow more naturally between sentences would elevate this score. The referencing is generally clear, and the reader can easily follow your line of reasoning.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'plethora of reasons', 'cultural significance', and 'elucidate' show an attempt to use less common lexical items. However, there are some inaccuracies in collocation and word choice, such as 'feel the remembrance of those moments' (which is unnatural) and 'playing an important role in vanishing' (where 'contributing to the erosion of' would be more precise). While your vocabulary is adequate to convey your meaning clearly, further work on collocations and idiomatic phrasing would help you reach a higher band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several error-free sentences, which is positive. However, there are some grammatical slips that occur, such as 'when they go on tour at places' (preposition error) and 'the cultural importance has vanished' (tense/article usage). Additionally, some phrasing is slightly awkward, such as 'I will prove my inclination towards the negative trend'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate that your control over complex structures is not yet fully consistent. To improve, focus on refining subject-verb agreement and ensuring that your use of articles and prepositions is more accurate in complex sentences.

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