Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
Thesedays, social media has developed incrisingly. A number of people travel famous destination to show others by uploding photos on their social media application, withot experiencing or seeing the location. Ì believe it has both negative and positive impact that we are going to discuss in the following essay.
First of all, having an account on social media is become very common among individuals, only few people are not using those plateforms. Showing of by posting a picture on app like instagram and facebook is become necesarry particularly between gen-z to match the trend. As a result, they end up paying more money to visit world famous spots and busy being taking pictures and forgot to feel the culture of the destination they are at. For instance, a group of friend with different financial background decide an tour. Few of them are from middle class family and it is struggling for their family member to afford an trip for their child just to show off.
On the other hand, social media influencer who earns money by creating content of themselves travelling across the world is important for them. In addition, taking pictures for the memories with feeling and seeing place is also essential. For instance, you traveled to newcountry without having any photographs is quite a bit disappointing.
Inconclusion, we need to understand an importance of travelling as it give us opportunity to see the world, see the culture and meet new people. Thus, visiting well known destination for only showing off without looking at them is really wrong thing so we need to balanced it out with both collecting pictures and looking at the place and people surronding it.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: why people take photos without looking at the place and whether this is a positive or negative trend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The explanation for why this happens is clear, but the discussion regarding the 'positive' aspect is underdeveloped and slightly confusing, as it conflates professional influencers with general tourists. The position is generally clear, but the arguments lack depth and specific, well-supported examples. To improve, you should expand on the psychological or social reasons behind this behavior and provide more nuanced arguments for both sides of the trend.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices like 'First of all', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly inaccurate, such as the transition into the second paragraph. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the relationship between ideas within paragraphs is more tightly connected.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several spelling errors (e.g., 'Thesedays', 'incrisingly', 'uploding', 'withot', 'surronding') and some awkward collocations (e.g., 'busy being taking pictures', 'struggling for their family member'). While the meaning is generally clear, the limited range of vocabulary and the frequency of errors in word choice and spelling prevent a higher score. You should focus on learning correct spelling and common collocations related to travel and social media.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('social media is become'), article usage ('an tour', 'an trip'), and sentence fragments or run-on sentences. These errors are noticeable and occasionally cause the reader to pause, although they do not completely impede communication. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically verb tenses and the correct use of articles, before attempting more complex grammatical structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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