Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-27
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)
Famous attractions spots are becoming more popular in recent times specially for photography without visiting any place before. The main reason of happening because social media and frequent review from peers helps to know worth visiting places and essay firmly believes that this is a positive trend.
One of the main reason is that social media has an ability to reach content all over the world. This is because people are leaning more towards social media such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, where accessing any informations regarding well -known vacation destinations have become extremely easy. For instance, In The UK, over 80% university students have visited all the seven wonders of the world because of all the itinerary had planned before going on to the trip, which has been game-changing for them, because that information helped save time and money to visit their dream destination.
One the other hand, getting reviews from peer has become necessary for almost every adults. Taking reviews about any experience worth asking to friend, family or colleagues are more relevant because people who have visited certain places makes them more excited or curious to visit any place they want to go since childhood. For instance, University of Alberta has created a special groups, where students share their knowledge and experience about spots from all over the world and they do polls to visit most recommanded top 5 place to go helps to create memorable moment families and couples.
To conclude, this essay completely it is a upward trend to visit well-known places with the help of Instagram, Facebook and Youtube and also taking reviews from peers to help assist journey to make beautiful memories.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the trend and the writer's opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. The argument that this is a 'positive trend' is stated but not convincingly supported; the examples provided, such as university students visiting the seven wonders, are slightly confusing and do not directly explain why taking photos without looking at the place is a positive development. The essay tends to focus more on the utility of social media for travel planning rather than the specific phenomenon of 'photographing without looking'. To improve, ensure that the examples directly support the specific premise of the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, 'One the other hand' is used to introduce a new point, but it does not contrast with the previous paragraph effectively. Additionally, some sentences are disjointed, such as 'The main reason of happening because social media...', which makes the flow of ideas feel slightly awkward. Improving the variety and accuracy of linking words would significantly enhance the logical progression of the essay.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and incorrect word choices, such as 'Famous attractions spots', 'essay firmly believes', and 'getting reviews from peer'. The repetition of basic terms like 'social media' and 'visit' limits the range. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise collocations and a wider variety of topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'digital documentation', 'curated experiences', or 'social validation'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('people who have visited... makes them'), missing articles ('In The UK'), and awkward sentence construction ('The main reason of happening because...'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence structure and proofreading for subject-verb agreement would be highly beneficial.
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.