Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-21

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)

Nowadays, many tourists are more interested in taking selfies at famous destinations than appreciating the places themselves. The trend is largely driven by the popularity of social media and the desire to gain online recognition. In my opinion, this is negative development because it prevent people from fully enjoying their travel experience.

Social media has become the source of updating every aspect of life. Many individuals upload photographs to gain likes and followers by showing famous destination behind them. For instance, online content creators upload their journey to Taj Mahal in the form of pictures and vlogs to gain views and followers. They usually focus on themselves rather than place to gain online recognition. As a result, they prioritise themselves in pictures over the place.

Posting photographs while on trip not a bad thing, but it prevents people to fully explore the historic or well-known places. Many individuals waste their most of time on taking pictures and making vlogs of the building sites, they forgot to enjoy their time exploring the site and reading about its historical values. According to my perspective, this negative trend because people usually forgot about the cultural values of the places, they only see them as a source of content to post on social media. For example, before the invention social media, tourists visit famous places and spend quality time there to know about that place and make memories so they can remember about their journey.

In conclusion, although, people take photographs while visiting well-known places to gain recognition and increase likes and comments on social media. However, this trends leads to negative development, because it prevent visitors to enjoying and explore the beauty of the places.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions: social media and the desire for online recognition explain why visitors focus on selfies, and you clearly judge the trend negatively because it can distract people from enjoying and learning about a place. The Taj Mahal example supports the explanation, while the contrast with earlier visits helps illustrate your concern. These relevant points meet the task well, but some are less fully developed than others. In particular, the claim that visitors previously spent quality time learning about places is broad and would be stronger with a specific example or a more careful explanation. To develop the response further, explain more precisely how seeking likes changes visitors’ behaviour and acknowledge that photographs can also preserve memories without replacing engagement with a site.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs explain the causes and effects, and a conclusion restates your position. Ideas generally progress logically, and examples such as the Taj Mahal are placed where they support the discussion. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The final paragraph begins with “although” but then introduces a separate “However” clause, making the relationship between the ideas awkward. The sentence about visitors spending time taking pictures and forgetting to explore also joins several ideas with a comma. Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise links, and make sure each paragraph develops one main point before moving to the next. This would make the progression smoother and referencing easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “online recognition,” “content creators,” “historical values,” and “cultural values,” which helps communicate the main ideas. There are also attempts to use more specific expressions such as “famous destinations” and “historic or well-known places.” Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, however: “the source of updating every aspect of life” is unclear, and “showing famous destination behind them” is not natural phrasing. Repeated references to “likes,” “followers,” and “social media” also limit flexibility. Aim for more natural collocations and vary repeated terms—for example, refer to sharing travel content or seeking online approval. These refinements would make your vocabulary more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a cause-and-effect structure with “As a result” and a contrast introduced by “although.” The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur and occasionally make sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “it prevent people” and “this trends leads,” where subject–verb agreement is incorrect, and “Posting photographs while on trip not a bad thing,” which is missing a finite verb and an article. There are also problems with clause construction in the conclusion and with forms such as “prevents people to fully explore.” Review agreement, articles, verb patterns, and sentence boundaries. Building accurate sentences first, then adding subordinate clauses, will help you show greater control of complex grammar.

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