Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-08

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)

Many people travel to famous place around the globe just to capture a picture of them visiting the place without even enjoying the place in real time. This is a negative trend which is being trending because of the social media reels and posts.

On the one hand, people argue that individuals visit the renouned place more often than ever before, to take a photo or a video of themselves, which promotes the toursim of the area and make the place more renoun to the world. For instance, Taj Mahal of India is a very famous place, people visit this place to take photo of themselves without knowing the history of it, even there are some people who had just visited the place for they never went close to the building and look at the art and the features of the building.

In contrast, this is causing a negative effect on the society as many men and women empty their pocket to visit these places just for the sake of Tiktok videos and Instagram reels. Moreover, people take loan for their trip which is not beneficial at all. Furthermore, if the people are not aware about the place they visit, they do not care about it and do not particopate in conserving these place. For example, many youngsters visit to famous Annapurna trek every yera, they take a lot of picture and post in their profile, however, they do not care about the environment there and throw their waste in the mountains. It is because the only motive for them to go to that area was to take an image , they did not go there to look around the beautiful scene and the nature , they were there just to mark the place as visited.

In conclusion, these days people visit well-known place just to take a picture of themselves without even looking at the beauty and importance of the place. It is a negative aspect as it does not promote the conservation of these places.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and make your position clear: you attribute the behaviour to social media and judge it negatively. The examples of the Taj Mahal and Annapurna trek are relevant, and the littering example supports your concern about conservation. However, the explanation of why social media encourages this behaviour is brief; you mention reels and posts but could explain the desire for online approval or to display travel experiences. The positive point—that photographs may promote tourism—is acknowledged, but it is not developed as fully as the negative effects. Some claims, such as people taking loans for trips, would also benefit from clearer explanation or support. Developing these ideas more evenly would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the contrast between tourism benefits and social costs is easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “In contrast,” and “Moreover” help signal relationships between ideas. However, the first body paragraph begins with a positive point but then shifts to people’s lack of interest in the site’s history, so its central focus is not fully consistent. Several sentences also carry multiple points, particularly the Annapurna example, which makes the progression feel crowded. Use clearer topic sentences and divide longer explanations into more focused steps; this would make the organisation more logical and cohesion less dependent on signposting phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “promotes the tourism,” “conserving,” “environment,” and “motive,” and the reader can generally understand your meaning. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “empty their pocket” and “mark the place as visited.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “renouned,” “toursim,” “renoun,” “particopate,” and “yera.” Some collocations are unnatural, for example “promotes the toursim of the area” and “take a lot of picture.” Repeated use of “place,” “take a picture,” and “visit” also limits variety. Check spelling carefully and practise natural collocations for tourism, photography and environmental protection.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “which,” “as,” and “if,” and the main message remains understandable. Some sentence patterns are effective, such as the explanation beginning “if the people are not aware about the place they visit.” However, errors in agreement, articles, plurals and verb forms recur: “famous place” needs a plural or article, “people visit” is followed by “make,” and “they never went close” does not fit smoothly with the surrounding present-tense account. There are also comma splices, as in “Taj Mahal of India is a very famous place, people visit this place.” Use full stops or conjunctions to connect complete clauses, and proofread agreement and tense consistency.

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