Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries and contributes a great deal to economies around the world. However, the damage tourism can cause to local cultures and the environment is often ignored.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Tourism has become one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, providing employment opportunities and generating significant income for many countries. However, it is also true that tourism can have harmful effects on local cultures and the environment. I strongly agree that tourism has more significant benefits if utilized accordingly.

On the one hand, tourism plays a vital role in boosting national economies. It creates jobs in sectors such as hotels, transportation and restaurants. In addition, it increases government revenue through taxes and attracts foreign investment. For example, countries like Egypt and Malta have built their economies on tourism and a large portion of their annual federal income come from this.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of tourism such as the environmental consequences and damage to native traditions can be equally severe. Mass tourism often produces excessive waste, increases water and energy consumption, and contributes to air pollution through flights, cruise ships and road transport. Fragile ecosystems are particularly vulnerable. For example, coral reefs can be damaged by careless diving, coastal areas may be destroyed to build resorts, and wildlife can be disturbed by constant human activity. Furthermore, other issue is damage to local cultures, sometimes visitors exchange their own traditions to natives, it might not sound big issue but it can change demography of the country.

In conclusion, after briefly and thoroughly analyzing benefits of tourism such as income generation and employment as well as discussing the complications. I strongly consider that tourism has more visible benefits which has been experienced by small nations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that tourism's benefits outweigh its drawbacks. The introduction and body paragraphs present relevant arguments regarding economic growth and environmental/cultural impact. However, the development of the cultural argument is somewhat thin; the phrase 'visitors exchange their own traditions to natives' is vague and lacks clear supporting evidence or explanation. While the position is consistent, the conclusion is slightly repetitive and could have been more effectively synthesized. Overall, the ideas are relevant and the task is addressed adequately, though some points could be expanded with more depth to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the economic benefits from the environmental and cultural drawbacks. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'In addition,' and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, there are minor issues with cohesion, such as the sentence fragment in the conclusion ('after briefly and thoroughly analyzing...'), which disrupts the flow. Additionally, some transitions are slightly mechanical. Despite these minor lapses, the progression of ideas is clear throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated language such as 'generating significant income,' 'fragile ecosystems,' and 'demography.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'exchange their own traditions to natives' and 'if utilized accordingly,' which sound slightly unnatural. The range is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, but the lack of more precise or academic vocabulary prevents a higher score. The errors do not impede communication, but they do highlight a limitation in the student's ability to use less common lexical items with full precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('a large portion of their annual federal income come from this') and missing articles or prepositions ('Furthermore, other issue is damage'). The sentence structure in the conclusion is also problematic, as it is a fragment rather than a complete sentence. While the student attempts complex sentences, the control over these structures is inconsistent. The errors are noticeable but rarely impede the reader's understanding of the main points.

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