Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-29
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 6.0)
Nowadays, social trends have largely changed the travel experiences . People are increasingly visiting the well-known places for their photographs, rather than appreciating the place. This essay will not only discuss the reasons behind this trend but also its detrimental effects with a logical conclusion.
To begin with, majority of the people visit many of the places only to take photos. This is because of the social media presence as they want attractive pictures to post or mention on stories rather than learning about the site's history. For instance, taking pictures of the place is more esay than knowing the culture or history. Hence, people spend time taking photographs for their desire of likes and recognition on social media.
However, only taking photos and not appreciating the beauty is a negative trend. Firstly, this reduces the value of the history and cuture. Tourism is only focused on creating content for their social media and not fully experiencing the destination. Moreover, excessive photoshots at the tourist place can disturb the other visitors and damage the cultural heritage. It is a superficial experience which is only documentation that can be shared later with others.
To conclude, although people take pictures for content creation and social media attention rather than learning about the history, yet this trend is negative because it only replaces the meaningful experience and decreases the
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the reasons behind taking photos at well-known places and evaluating whether this trend is negative. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. However, the response falls short of the minimum length requirement, containing only 226 words instead of the required 250 words. This under-length impacts the development of ideas, leaving the conclusion incomplete and cutting off the final sentence. While the ideas presented are relevant and clearly linked to the prompt, the lack of full development due to length constraints prevents a higher band score. For these reasons, the response is awarded a band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay displays a logical overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and effects, and an attempt at a concluding paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'Moreover' are utilised to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, as seen with 'This is because of...' and 'this trend is negative'. While the abrupt ending of the essay slightly disrupts the final progression of ideas, the logical organisation throughout the majority of the text supports a clear flow, earning it a band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'detrimental effects', 'superficial experience', and 'cultural heritage'. There are, however, some noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'photoslots' instead of 'photo shoots' or 'photographing', and 'esay' instead of 'easy'. The phrase 'cuture' contains a spelling error. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is not impeded. The student successfully incorporates topic-specific vocabulary related to tourism and social media, justifying a band 6.0 for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinating clauses like 'as they want attractive pictures to post' and 'although people take pictures... yet this trend is negative' (though this latter structure is grammatically clumsy with the redundant inclusion of 'yet'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures, such as 'majority of the people' (missing the article 'the') and 'only taking photos and not appreciating' leading into a singular verb mismatch in places. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they do not impede overall communication, placing this securely in the band 6.0 range.
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