Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-04

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)

The advancement in smartphone technology has made people's lives easier and more convenient. Nowadays, a lot of people are travelling to explore famous spots to click their photos rather than showing any interest towards the place. The purpose of the visit is just to click photos, and no importance is given to the place. This trend has been seen growing a lot due to the impact of social media influence on individuals; it is creating a negative impact on upcoming generations.

The main reason for this is social media. In recent times, people are using social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp; just to upload a post, the post can be an image or a video of their recent visit to any religious place or famous beach. This is happening because people have become too active and want to upload and show off to their close ones as well as their group of people. Instead of giving importance to the purpose of the visit, the first thing that comes to mind is to click a photo of themselves and not enjoy the place and look at the place first. However, it is because of the rest of the population is influencing the people on these social media platforms and encouraging them to do so. For example, a social media influencer is creating content on Instagram; the audience is watching the photo or a video and wants to do visit the same place and do the same thing as them.

On the other hand, this is creating a negative impact and influencing individuals in the wrong direction. It impacts their mental health and diverts the mind in the wrong way of doing those things, as sometimes it may not be possible for an individual to do that. They need to think practically about all things and aspects in life. Everything cannot be the same as shown and should not be followed. They need to limit the use of the social media and even maintain a distance from their peers. Peers can easily influence to all kinds of age of people. In todays scenario it is possible of people easily getting influenced. For instance, a group of people in a society falling under the age of 40-50's just by talks that someone has recently visited Dubai. In that group people should think carefully and practically about budget and not just visit the place even if it does not fall under their budget.

In my opinion, visiting a place is more important than just clicking a photo. Many photos can be clicked, but every time coming to that ame place to visit may not be possible. So better to explore the full place and simultaneously click photos and enjoy the place.

In conclusion, people should visit places not just for clicking photos to upload on social media but to enjoy the place fully with their family. Later, photos can be clicked for memories, but first first priority should be given to the place rather than clicking photos. As a result, the place and the photo are equally important.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the reasons for the trend of taking photos at famous locations without looking at them and evaluating whether it is a positive or negative development. The position is generally clear throughout the writing. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the discussion on social media influence in the second paragraph is quite repetitive and centers heavily on the idea of uploading and showing off, while the evaluation of the negative impact on mental health and practical thinking in the third paragraph remains somewhat broad and under-developed. To reach a higher level, all main ideas would need to be extended with more specific examples and deeper elaboration rather than restating similar points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. The essay is appropriately divided into paragraphs, each focusing on a distinct aspect of the prompt, such as the causes and the negative impacts. However, cohesion at times feels mechanical or slightly faulty. For example, transitional phrases like 'However, it is because of the rest of the population is influencing...' create awkward links, and referencing across sentences is not always entirely clear. To improve further, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that the logical connection between sentences is smoother without relying on repetitive phrasing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts and attempting less common items related to technology and social media, such as 'social media influencer' and 'upcoming generations.' However, there are noticeable lexical limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. Phrases like 'click their photos' instead of 'take pictures,' and awkward constructions such as 'getting influenced by talks' or 'come to that ame place,' indicate a lack of precision. There are also occasional minor spelling slips, like 'ame' instead of 'same'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score, and a greater variety of sophisticated vocabulary used with higher precision is needed for a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures. There are some errors in grammar, punctuation, and articles, such as 'limit the use of the social media,' 'influence to all kinds of age of people,' and missing punctuation in compound or complex clauses like 'In todays scenario it is possible of people easily getting influenced.' Furthermore, some clause structures are tangled, such as 'However, it is because of the rest of the population is influencing...' Despite these errors, they rarely impede overall communication, and the meaning generally remains clear. To achieve a higher level, the writer needs to eliminate recurrent structural flaws and produce a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences.

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