Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-07

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)

In the contemporary era, the discussion about taking pictures and uploading them over social media has become a subject of intense discussion. Some people who plan to visit the popular places spending most of their time in taking pictuires of themselves, rather than exploring the place and create memories. I firmly believe that it is going to effect negatively when compared with advantages.

To begin with, the trend of spending time in taking the selfies and posting them in their social media accounts when visiting a hostoric or popular place has become increasing. The most prominent reason is that they want to showcase to their friends they are enjoying their time in exploring the tourist places. In addition to that, they want to create some memories by posting them on social media platforms such as facebook, instagram and twitter. These kind of people want to encourage their followers to plan a trip to explore the beautiful towns by sharing their trip, budget and their experience.

I think when we go to a popular visiting place it is always a good idea to capture the moments in snaps, but spending the majority amount of time in taking the photographs is going to affect our purpose of visit. Although capturing group pictures has few benifits, spending most of the time without even visiting the place has definitely outweigh the advantages.

In conclusion, people should focus on exploring the whole place and try to know as much as information related to that famous places. Eventhough taking the pictures and selfies are important, I believe that allocating whole time in capturing camara rather than focusing on exploring the whole place has more drawbacks compared with positive effects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions: you explain that people want to show friends they are enjoying a trip and share experiences online, and you clearly judge the trend negatively. The point that photographs can preserve memories also adds balance. However, the explanation of why people behave this way is more developed than the discussion of its negative effects. You say that taking too many pictures undermines the purpose of a visit, but do not illustrate what visitors miss or how this affects their experience. The claim that sharing trips encourages followers to travel is relevant, yet its connection to your overall negative position could be clarified. Develop one or two consequences with a specific example to make the argument more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining the trend, a paragraph giving your evaluation, and a conclusion. Ideas generally progress in a sensible order, and linking expressions such as “To begin with,” “In addition to that,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, with several sentences beginning in a similar way or repeating the same idea about spending time taking photographs. The relationship between the benefits of sharing travel experiences and your negative judgement is not fully connected. Some references are also unclear, as in “These kind of people,” where the intended group could be stated more precisely. Use fewer formulaic transitions and connect each example explicitly to your main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “showcase,” “tourist places,” “social media platforms,” and “drawbacks,” so the main ideas are understandable. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “allocating whole time” and “exploring the whole place,” but these are not natural collocations and reduce precision. Several spelling errors—“pictuires,” “hostoric,” “benifits,” and “camara”—are noticeable, while “popular visiting place” and “create memories” are awkward or repetitive in context. The range is sufficient to discuss the subject, but word choice and spelling are not consistently controlled. Build a bank of natural travel-related collocations and proofread carefully for spelling and repeated phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession with “Although” and a contrast using “rather than.” Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity and control. For example, “Some people who plan to visit the popular places spending most of their time” lacks a finite verb, and “it is going to effect negatively” has an incomplete grammatical pattern. There are also errors in agreement and sentence construction in “These kind of people” and “spending most of the time … has definitely outweigh the advantages.” Review verb forms, subject–verb agreement, and how to complete clauses after introductory phrases. More accurate control of these patterns would make your varied sentences easier to follow.

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