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)

Thousands of people visit well known places every year, however it is becoming obvious that the reason why people explore these places has changed over the years.

The major contibuting factor is the internet. Many people especially the youth in society will rather have their pictures professionally taken, edited and posted on social media applications such as facebook, instagram, youtube and tiktok rather than explore these popular and sometimes expensive locations. For instance, a person who works as a social media influencer will spend money to visit tourist attractions for pictures and videos because it will bring engagement to their social page. As a result, they earn their income and the cycle continues all over again.

Social media also encourages trends. Some people only like to visit places when it is popular on social media. As a result, when they go to these well-known location, the idea is to take a picture of themselves as evidence that they visited the site. Infact, people go there with a full production of people to document their experience.

This trend is definitely negative because it shows that people are becoming less sociable and they would rather have a picture of themselves with a beatiful background than understand the significance or history behind these sites. Basically, people have become self absorbed and only find joy when they get validation from the internet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, exploring the reasons behind the trend of taking photos at well-known places without engaging with them, and clearly stating a position that it is a negative trend. However, there is a penalty to consider regarding length. The student's text contains only 228 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the development of ideas is somewhat constrained, particularly in the final paragraph where the negative impacts are introduced but not fully extended with concrete examples. Despite this under-length penalty, the core parts of the task are adequately addressed, identifying social media influence and validation as the driving forces behind the phenomenon. To reach a higher band, the writer must ensure the word count exceeds the minimum threshold to allow for fully fleshed-out supporting arguments and examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introducing the topic, explaining the causes, and finally giving a negative stance in the conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised adequately, with distinct paragraphs dedicated to the introduction, the primary cause of internet and social media influence, the secondary cause of trending behavior, and the concluding judgment. However, cohesive devices are at times basic or slightly repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'As a result' to connect sentences. Referencing is mostly clear, though the progression could be smoother with a wider variety of transitional phrases. Overall, the structural framework is logical and easy to follow, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'tourist attractions', 'social media influencer', 'engagement', and 'validation'. There are, however, minor spelling and word-choice errors, notably 'contibuting' instead of 'contributing', 'beatiful' instead of 'beautiful', and 'self absorbed' lacking a hyphen. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'production' in the sense of a film crew, though the collocation is slightly unnatural. The lexical adequacy is sufficient to communicate the main ideas clearly, despite the occasional inaccuracies and spelling lapses that place this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the essay, demonstrating some control over multi-clause structures, such as in the sentence: 'Many people especially the youth in society will rather have their pictures professionally taken, edited and posted on social media...'. There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation omissions, including missing commas around introductory phrases and a lack of apostrophes in plural or possessive contexts. While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede overall communication or render the meaning obscure. The sentence variety and general accuracy reflect a solid Band 6 performance.

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