Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-06
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)
In this contemporary era, many netizens want to store their memories in photographs. Unfortunately, people only focus of taking pictures rather than see actual attractive places.
To embark upon, society has been moved more in social media after advancement of technology, as it give more connection to our friends and relatives while sharing photos when someone explore a new place. This approach often leads to get more appreciation from peers. However, I believe that this strategy is not entirely effective, as it only focus on virtual world compare to actual world. In fact, it may fail to deliver lasting results because humans always been in touch with digital platform and want to see how others likes their appearances. In result, community tend towards upload hihe
In my opinion, this is a negative trend because it influences others to upload more memories on digital applications. Moreover, the footfall of tourists has been significantly increased in world popular locations. For instance, thousands of tourists across the world visit natural place like niagara falls in Canada, In stead of exploring nature view, people busy with their cameras, and it results into downward trend. On top of that social influencers also promotes smartphones camera for marketing strategy. Hence, population attract more in taking selfies and shots in various spots.
In conclusion, despite the fact that social media is necessary for this competitive world, from my perspective, I opine that public should look the actual attraction rather than just clicking snapshots in smartphones.
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, identifying reasons for the trend and expressing a clear opinion that it is negative. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. The essay is also slightly under the 250-word minimum, which impacts the depth of the argument. While the position is consistent, the explanation of why people prioritize photos over the experience could be more nuanced. The final sentence of the second paragraph is incomplete ('hihe'), which suggests a lack of proofreading and affects the overall clarity of the argument.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For example, 'To embark upon' is an incorrect collocation for starting an essay. While cohesive devices like 'Moreover' and 'In conclusion' are used, they are sometimes applied in a way that feels forced or slightly unnatural. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the lack of cohesion within sentences—such as the abrupt ending of the second paragraph—disrupts the reader's ability to follow the argument smoothly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'society has been moved more in social media' and 'population attract more in taking selfies'. The student relies on basic terminology and struggles with collocations. Some errors, such as 'hihe' and 'natural place like niagara falls', indicate a need for better control over spelling and word formation. To reach a higher band, the student should focus on using more sophisticated vocabulary and ensuring correct word usage in context.
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 communication. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('community tend', 'social influencers also promotes'), incorrect preposition usage ('look the actual attraction'), and awkward sentence construction ('it results into downward trend'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. More attention to verb tenses and sentence structure is required to improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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