Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-26

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)

The popularity of places depends on the number of visitors. There are several beautiful places in the world, but only few have stolen the attention from people. Technology have played a significant role in making some place popular. From my perspective, In the contemporary world, it is often observed that individuals may want to visit the same place where some celebrities or their friends have visited. This motivation makes some place more popular than others. This essay will outline the reasons of this development and potential benefits.

To begin with, there are few reasons why some landmark receive widespread attention than others. The first and foremost reason is the experience. The popularity of places is not rely on one factor, but there are multiple reasons which makes some places more beautiful. For instance, island of Andaman and nikobar is very beautiful, but public authorities have failed to provide safety and security to the visitors. On the other hand, beaches in goa have become more popular due to convenience, safety and security. Visitors used to share their experience on social plateform which encourage others to have the same experience.

Furthermore, this trend has brought positive outcomes. Due to their popularity, it become easy for governments to promote one particular destination rather than highlighting ten other destinations. They can allocate funds wisely to the popular places and as places get occupied by more visitors, businesses can generate more revenue which may received in the form of the tax to the governments.

To sum up, popularity of places may invite more visitors to the area, although governments and public authorities have to increase the safety and security to protect them. If they fail by any chances, visitors may considerably decreased.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the causes and gives a broadly positive judgement, but it only partially answers the specific question. The prompt concerns people taking photographs of themselves without looking at the place; instead, the essay mainly discusses why destinations become popular, citing celebrity or friend visits, safety, and convenience. The explanation of social media sharing is relevant, but the link to selfie-taking and overlooking the destination is not developed. The positive view is supported with points about government promotion, funding, and business revenue, yet these benefits are not weighed against possible drawbacks or connected clearly to the behaviour described. To strengthen the response, explain why people prioritise posting a selfie—such as seeking social approval—and state more directly whether this behaviour is beneficial or harmful, with a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin with,” “Furthermore,” and “To sum up” help signal the stages of the response, and the main ideas are generally grouped by topic. However, progression is weakened because the opening focuses on destination popularity rather than the specific selfie-taking behaviour, and the conclusion returns to safety rather than summarising the stated positive judgement. Some links between claims are also unclear: the example about Andaman and Goa does not fully explain how it supports the argument about people photographing themselves. Build each paragraph around one direct answer to the prompt, and use clearer links between the example, explanation, and main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “widespread attention,” “convenience,” “allocate funds,” and “generate more revenue.” These choices help communicate ideas about tourism and public investment. However, several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “social plateform” is misspelled, “the experience” is vague, and “places get occupied” is an unnatural way to describe visitor numbers. Repetition of “popular,” “places,” and “safety and security” also limits flexibility. Choose vocabulary that directly describes the behaviour in the question, such as “documenting a visit,” “seeking online approval,” or “focusing on the photo opportunity,” and check spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay attempts both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “On the other hand” and a conditional sentence beginning “If they fail.” Meaning is usually understandable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “Technology have played” should use a singular verb, while “the popularity of places is not rely” has an incorrect verb pattern. In “it become easy,” the tense and agreement are inaccurate, and “visitors may considerably decreased” does not form a correct modal construction. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in “In the contemporary world” after a comma. Review subject–verb agreement and modal verb patterns, then proofread each sentence for a complete, accurate structure.

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