Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-20

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)

The budget airlines have fueled the global travel across the world in a cost friendly manner. Thus, the means to fulfill dream destination travel which earlier was very expensive has now become reality and does not live on post cards and travel magazines. However, this trend has some advantages as well as disadvantages, with some tourist focused less on the destination and more on photographs for their social media accounts and publicity.

This occurance is partially driven by tourist wanting to experience the destination in a quick and efficient manner and building memories through photographs. The destinations' history, museums and cusines as well as culture does not garner much attention. This is due to focus of the social media traveller in uploading pictures with background and scenary. This is partially also due to the short travel package of 2 days and 3 nights get aways, which generally does not lend towards a desintation experience which comes with a tourist spending two weeks.

The positive side of this trend is that more people are familiar and can pinpoint the places visited on a map as well as photographs as record of travel along with passport stamps from immigration of that particular country. However, from personal experience, if i meet such a tourist who perhaps has gone to Cairo Egypt, but has not fully immersed in the local culture, food and market, they will not be able to hold conversation on the key places, sights and sound and the talk will be superficial and focused mainly on the landmarks covered.

Also this trend is mostly age related with old and senior tourist who remain focused on absorbing and carrying a more holistic experience of the desitnation visited. In my humble opinon, travel is an addiction and getting closer to nature itself is a theraphy and immersing in history and culture is a natural culmination and right of passage for any traveller. Over a period of time the photograph will become just one artifact and the expereince of the place visited will be the key to self discovery and been part of the global fraternity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions: you explain the trend through social-media attention and short travel packages, and you discuss possible benefits and drawbacks. Your view is present, especially in the final paragraph, where you value cultural immersion over photographs. However, the response does not consistently make the positive-or-negative judgement explicit; the opening calls the trend a mix of advantages and disadvantages, while the conclusion mainly describes a preferred kind of travel. The benefit of recognising places and keeping a photographic record is relevant, but it is less fully explained than the criticism of superficial visits. Develop the causes and your overall evaluation more directly, and support each with a specific example or clearer reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, a paragraph on causes, a discussion of effects, and a concluding reflection. Linking expressions such as “However,” “This is due to,” and “Also” help show relationships between ideas. Some connections are less clear, though. The paragraph beginning “The positive side” moves from benefits to a personal example that illustrates a drawback, so the contrast could be signposted more carefully. The final paragraph introduces age differences without explaining how this relates to the main argument, and the conclusion does not clearly summarise your judgement. Group related points more consistently and use references such as “this trend” only when their meaning is unmistakable.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “social media accounts,” “local culture,” “landmarks,” “holistic experience,” and “self discovery.” These choices allow you to discuss travel and its effects, and some less common expressions show an effort to be precise. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “tourist focused less,” “destination experience,” and “right of passage.” Spelling errors, including “occurance,” “cusines,” and “scenary,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural combinations and check spelling carefully; for example, describe tourists as “focusing less on the destination” and refer to “a rite of passage.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including cause-and-effect sentences with “This is due to” and a conditional example beginning “if I meet such a tourist.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “some tourist focused” has a number and verb-form problem, while “The destinations’ history, museums and cusines as well as culture does not garner” has a subject–verb agreement issue. The long final sentence also combines several ideas without clear grammatical control. Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and use complex structures in shorter, controlled forms. More consistently accurate sentences would make your argument easier to follow.

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