Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-25

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)

Nowadays, the trend of capturing everything that you see around has influenced people the most. Every individual around us seems to capture each little thing and taking their photographs irrespective of that particular place. I think people should get the proper details of the location before taking their pictures in the unknown places.

To begin with, in recent years, social media has played a crucial role in influencing people through various trends and techniques. Social apps such as Instagram, twitter, facebook etc. has created a competition among citizens whether who is the best among all and who enjoys their life to the fullest. Users post the pictures from their holidays and vacations, share their views of accomodation at luxurious hotels and resorts and pretend to live healthy and luxurious lifestyle. I think taking photographs of the famous places is not entirely a false habit, but disrespecting someone by showing superiority is.

In addition, people's privacy and security are at stake. They become vulnerable to the frauds, thefts and crimes as they share their personal information online through photographs and its location. It is of no doubt that the well-known places are very beautiful and catches our vision and we couldn't resist ourselves by capturing them. Some places does not allow photography at all and people often miss these security sign. As a result, they end up putting themselves in such a situation that could not be forgiven. Strict rules and regulations when not followed, could end up in a punishable matter.

To sum up, every individual has the right to live freely and enjoy these beautiful moments, but should go through the tiny details of that place considering safety as their first priority. However, people should look for prohibition signboards amd respect the law for that particular place.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions, identifying social media as a reason people take photographs and presenting the trend as potentially negative because of privacy, security, and rule-breaking. However, the response does not consistently answer the specific issue of photographing oneself at famous places without looking at them. The opening shifts to capturing everything and advises learning about a location, while the body focuses largely on online competition and personal safety. Your view is also not fully clear: you call the habit “not entirely a false habit” but criticise showing superiority, without directly stating whether the overall trend is positive or negative. Develop the reasons more directly and explain how the behaviour affects people’s experience of the place to make your position clearer and better supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “To begin with” and “In addition,” and a concluding paragraph. This makes the main stages easy to follow. The ideas within paragraphs are generally related, especially the progression from social media to online sharing and then to privacy concerns. However, some links are mechanical, and the connection between the task’s focus on taking selfies without looking at a place and the discussion of security is not always explicit. The conclusion introduces safety and signboards rather than clearly drawing together the main reasons and your judgement. Use clearer references to connect each point to the question, and make the final paragraph summarise your position rather than add a new emphasis.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “social media,” “competition,” “privacy,” “security,” and “vulnerable,” which helps communicate your main ideas. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “played a crucial role” and “Strict rules and regulations.” However, several word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise: “taking their photographs” is unclear, “catches our vision” is unnatural, and “a punishable matter” does not express the intended consequence naturally. Spelling errors such as “accomodation” and “amd,” along with inconsistent capitalisation of platform names, also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise phrases that describe the behaviour and its effects, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning “as” and “when,” and most of the message remains understandable. Some grammatical errors recur, however. For example, “Social apps … has created” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “Some places does not allow” should use a plural verb. In “whether who is the best,” the clause structure is faulty, and “a healthy and luxurious lifestyle” needs an article. There are also problems with plural forms and sentence punctuation, as in “these security sign.” These errors do not generally prevent understanding, but they limit control. Practise checking agreement, articles, and clause construction, especially in longer sentences, while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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