Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-05

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, an increasing number of people visit new places to take pictures of themself rather than enjoying the view. They are visiting. Because they want to put pictures on Instagram and TikTok to attract their audience. Although taking pictures is a good thing, as it helps people to save their memories, peer pressure and disrespectful behaviour are negative trends.

To begin with, many people visit new places mainly to take pictures and upload them on social media because they want to engage their audience and show that they have visited famous destinations. This is because posting pictures on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok can increase their social status and attract more followers and likes. As a result, people consider visiting famous landmarks an opportunity to gain attention online. Moreover, when they see their friends visiting popular places and sharing photographs, they may feel pressured to do the same. Therefore, instead of enjoying the view and experiencing the destination, they often focus on taking the perfect photograph for social media

Furthermore, this trend can lead to disrespect towards local cultures and traditions. When tourists are more concerned about taking attractive photographs, they may ignore the cultural importance of the places they visit. For example, some people may take selfies at religious sites, historical monuments, or during traditional ceremonies without considering whether their behaviour is appropriate or not. In some cases, they may wear unsuitable clothes, enter restricted areas, or disturb local people just to take a perfect picture. Consequently, such behaviour can offend local communities and reduce respect for their traditions and cultural values

To conclude ,the increasing habit of taking photographs at tourist destinations is mainly influenced by social media create peer pressure and disrespect behaviour In my opinion, it is a negative development because people may fail to appreciate the places they visit and can sometimes show disrespect towards local cultures and traditions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: it explains why people prioritize photography over experiencing a location and provides a clear position that this is a negative trend. The ideas are relevant and well-developed, particularly the discussion on social media validation and the subsequent impact on local culture. The introduction clearly states the writer's stance, and the body paragraphs provide logical support. To reach a higher band, the writer could further extend the analysis by discussing the long-term implications of this behavior on the tourism industry or local economies, rather than focusing solely on the immediate social and cultural impacts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized, with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the causes of the trend from the negative consequences. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'Moreover,' 'Furthermore,' and 'Consequently' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of cohesive devices to avoid repetitive structures. Overall, the information is presented in a coherent manner that is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning with some precision. The writer uses topic-specific terms like 'social status,' 'landmarks,' 'cultural importance,' and 'historical monuments.' However, there are some minor errors in word choice and form, such as 'themself' instead of 'themselves' and 'disrespect behaviour' instead of 'disrespectful behavior.' The range is adequate for the task, but the essay lacks the more sophisticated, idiomatic, or less common lexical items that would characterize a higher band score. Improving collocation and precision would elevate the lexical quality.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is consistently clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as the sentence fragment 'They are visiting.' and punctuation errors, including missing spaces after commas and a lack of proper capitalization in the conclusion. The use of complex sentences is present, but the control is not entirely consistent. To improve, the writer should focus on sentence boundary awareness and ensuring that subordinate clauses are correctly attached to main clauses, as well as refining punctuation to ensure professional presentation.

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