Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-05

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)

Certain individuals visit popular sites for sightseeing and take photographs of themselves without considering the environment. In my view, an average individual can only change his or her status. People can only change the way they look and what outfits they choose to wear. In contrast, changing the surrounding is beyound their capacity. This essay would concentrate on the positive trend, and why people visit popular tourist sites without focusing on the surrounding. There are several reasons, but this essay will only explain few reasons including the fame of the location and historical buildings, and the excitement at the moment of photographing themselves.

To begin with, the fame and historical buildings of a big city would attract travellers to stop and begin to take photos for future display of themselves. many people would not care, if its there are old building or a plastic dumping site. But, as long has the location has made the news, once they visit the area, they begin to take pictures selfies. I've seen pictures of famous couples, their slefies shows their beauty. However, the pictures were taken in rural area. There is a saying that; beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Furthermore, many young people travel to enjoy their hobbies and entertain themselves. In these process, they take lots of pictures along the way, without checking if the surrounding is the best for photoshot. They only concentrate in their present happiness. For instance, I travelled with my colleaques last summer to South Africa, we had fun and good memories. But, most of the selfies we took had local buildings, native cultural arts, at the background. we were so excited at the moment, but we discovered later, we could have done it better.

In summary, from my essay above, It is clear that many people take photographs of themselves without focusing on the surrounding, and out of default. Which is gradually becoming a positive trend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions by offering reasons—location fame and the excitement of taking photos—and stating that you see the trend as positive. The personal example from South Africa is relevant and helps illustrate the momentary enjoyment involved. However, the position is not consistently clear: the opening discusses what individuals can change, while the conclusion calls the behaviour “out of default,” which does not clearly explain why it is positive. The reasons are also only partly developed. For example, the point about famous places is followed by a comparison with a “plastic dumping site,” but the connection to people’s motives needs clearer explanation. Develop each reason and explain more directly why the trend benefits people or society.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “To begin with” and “Furthermore,” and a summary. The examples generally appear alongside the relevant reason, so the reader can follow the broad direction of the essay. However, progression is uneven: the opening’s discussion of changing one’s appearance and surroundings is not clearly connected to the later reasons, and the conclusion introduces “out of default” without establishing that idea earlier. Some links are mechanical or unclear, such as “In these process” and “from my essay above.” Improve cohesion by making each paragraph develop one clear point and using references that explicitly connect the example to that point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “historical buildings,” “tourist sites,” “hobbies,” and “cultural arts,” and attempt more expressive phrases such as “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” This gives you enough range to communicate the main ideas, but several word choices and spelling errors make the writing less precise. Examples include “beyound,” “slefies,” “photoshot,” and “colleaques”; “plastic dumping site” also sounds unnatural in this comparison. Phrases such as “change their status” and “out of default” do not clearly express the intended meaning. Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling, while choosing vocabulary that directly describes the behaviour and its motivations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the contrast beginning “In contrast” and the example introduced by “For instance.” However, the range is limited, and errors recur in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and punctuation. For example, “many people would not care, if its there are old building” has faulty clause structure and agreement; “In these process” also has an incorrect determiner and number form. Capitalisation is inconsistent, as in “many” after a full stop and “we” at the start of a sentence, while the final sentence fragment beginning “Which” is not securely connected to the preceding sentence. Practise building accurate complex sentences and proofread for complete clauses, agreement, and sentence boundaries.

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