Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01

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 7.0)

Nowadays, more and more people visit famous places mainly to take photographs of themselves rather than to appreciate the places they are visiting. This is largely because of social media and the desire to share the experience with others. In my opinion, this is a negative trend because people may miss the opportunity to genuinely experience and learn fom these places.

One major reason for this behaviour is the influence of social media. Platforms such as insatgram, facebook encourage people to share photos of their activities and travels. A photograph taken at a famous landmark can make a trip appear more interesting and can attract likes and comments from friends and followers. I addition, people often want to create memories that they can look back on later. As a result, taking photographs has become an important part of travelling for many people.

However, I believe this trend has more negative effects. When visitors focus too much on taking photos, they may pay less attention to the history, culture or natural beauty of the place. For instance, someone visiting the Taj Mahal might spend most of their time finding the perfect angle for a photograph instead of learning about its history and architecture. This can make the visit less meaningful and reduce the educational value of travelling.

In conclusion, the popularity of social media and the desire to share personal experience are major reasons why people focus on taking photographs at famous places. Although photographs can help people preserve memories, I believe excessive focus on selfies is a negative trend becaause it can prevent visitorsfrom fully appericating the place they visit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task fully, presenting both the reasons for the trend and a clear position that it is a negative development. The writer successfully outlines the influence of social media platforms and the desire to preserve memories, while also exploring the negative impacts on genuine appreciation and education. The position is maintained clearly throughout the essay. The ideas are generally well extended and supported, such as the example of visiting the Taj Mahal, though there is a slight tendency to over-generalise regarding visitor behaviour. To move towards higher bands, the ideas could be developed with even greater depth or nuance, perhaps exploring psychological motivations or cultural shifts in more detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

There is a clear logical organisation and progression throughout the essay, with each paragraph serving a distinct purpose. The introduction sets out the background and the writer's stance, followed by body paragraphs exploring the causes and effects respectively, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices are used effectively and flexibly, as seen with transition markers like 'One major reason', 'However', and 'In conjunction'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to structure the argument. While the overall flow is smooth and logical, referencing and paragraph transitions could be slightly more sophisticated to reach the highest performance levels.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary used provides a sufficient range for some flexibility and precision, allowing the writer to discuss social media influence and tourism adequately. Less common items, such as 'appreciate', 'architectur', and 'preserve memories', are attempted with some awareness of style and collocation. However, there are occasional spelling and word-form errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'insatgram' instead of Instagram, 'fom' instead of from, 'appericating' instead of appreciating, and 'becaause' instead of because. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to eliminate these spelling inaccuracies and incorporate a wider variety of sophisticated, less common lexical items with precise control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a good variety of complex structures alongside simple sentence forms, resulting in frequent error-free sentences. Examples of complex structures include 'When visitors focus too much on taking photos, they may pay less attention...' and 'Although photographs can help people preserve memories, I believe...'. Control of grammar and punctuation is generally good, though a few minor errors persist, such as missing articles ('visitor fully appreciating the place they visit') and minor spacing issues in punctuation ('In addition', 'visitorfrom'). The grammar does not impede communication, and the majority of sentences remain structurally sound.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.