Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-17

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, many people have gone to famous tourist places just to take pictures of themselves instead of enjoying the location itself. This habit is mostly caused by the popular use of social media, and I believe it is a negative development overall.

The main reason for this trend is the influence of social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook. People today want to show their online friends that they are living an exciting life. They feel happy when they receive likes and comments on their photos. Therefore, when they visit famous places like the Eiffel Tower, their main aim is to get a good photo for their profile. For example, many young travelers spend a lot of time taking selfies in different poses and then leave the spot immediately without learning about its history or culture.

In my opinion, this is a negative trend for two important reasons. Firstly, people miss the real meaning of travel. Traveling should be about relaxing, learning new things, and connecting with nature or local culture. If a person only focuses on taking photos, they cannot truly enjoy the experience. Secondly, it causes problems at popular places. Crowds of people standing everywhere to take photos often block the way for others and create noise, which makes the visit unpleasant for other tourists.

To conclude, people are focusing more on taking selfies at famous destinations because they want social media attention. This is a negative trend because it ruins the true experience of traveling and creates unnecessary crowds at tourist spots.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response fully addresses all parts of the task by explaining why people visit well-known places just to take photographs and clearly stating a position on whether this is a positive or negative trend. The ideas are well developed with relevant examples, such as mentioning social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, and the specific example of tourists taking selfies at the Eiffel Tower without learning its history. The writer effectively transitions into two distinct negative impacts in the third paragraph: missing the real meaning of travel and causing congestion and annoyance at popular locations. The position is maintained consistently from the introduction through to the conclusion, satisfying all requirements of the task descriptor at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct and clear central topic: the introduction sets up the issue and position, the second paragraph addresses the causes, the third discusses the negative impacts, and the final paragraph concludes the essay. Cohesive devices are used appropriately, such as 'The main reason for this trend', 'Therefore', 'In my opinion', and 'Firstly' / 'Secondly', which help to guide the reader smoothly through the arguments. Paragraphing is managed sufficiently and logically, contributing to an overall coherent piece of writing without noticeable disruption to the flow of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is sufficient for the task and allows some flexibility and precision. The student successfully employs less common items and collocations appropriate to the topic, such as 'social media networks', 'exciting life', 'learning about its history or culture', and 'true experience of traveling'. While the range is adequate rather than extensive, it is used accurately. There are no major lexical errors that impede communication, and spelling and word choice are generally accurate throughout the response, reflecting the standards typically expected for a solid band 6.5 or 7 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay contains a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer successfully employs subordinate clauses and conditional-like structures, such as 'When they visit famous places like the Eiffel Tower, their main aim is to get a good photo' and 'If a person only focuses on taking photos, they cannot truly enjoy the experience.' There is a high frequency of error-free sentences, and the grammar and punctuation are controlled well. The few errors present are minor and do not impede communication at all, showing a strong command of basic and moderately complex syntactic structures.

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