Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-05

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 5.5)

In this rapidly evolving world tourism became the most discussed topic around the world as an individual its an escape from the repeated routine and for the government as great source of income in two ways through foreign currency exchange and contribution to GDP . However , the damage caused to local cultures and environment is often ignored , I agree with the statement , financially it sounds good but as a local they have to deal with many problems which we will further discuss .

Tourism has many financial benefits but as a local they have to deal with many problems like loud music , rising rents ,housing prices , competition in markets , moreover the local festivals and celebration gets intervene . Throwing garbage on the streets or beaches and polluting them is one of the major issues . As a result local people get frustrated and show their anger on tourists .

These problems can be solved through government policies and locals understanding . Government must allocate housing facilities to the local at cheap rates near city center and a separate markets for locals , give more priority to the locals then tourist . Locals should also understand that tourism is the great source of income for their country so instead of cursing deal with them and find new ways to generate income through tourism .

In conclusion , tourism is the ultimate source of income for the country , locals should behave well with them and government must solve the problems faced by locals .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and presents a clear position agreeing with the statement, which keeps the score at this level. However, the ideas are only partially developed. In the second paragraph, the writer lists various problems such as 'loud music, rising rents, housing prices, competition in markets' without expanding on them with detailed explanations or fully relevant examples. The conclusion also introduces a slightly shifted stance by stating that tourism is the ultimate source of income, which conflicts with the earlier critical perspective on cultural and environmental damage. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to extend each main idea further, providing specific, well-supported arguments or real-world examples rather than brief, generalised assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some overall organisation, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing problems and solutions, and a conclusion. However, there is a lack of clear progression throughout the text, and cohesive devices are often inadequate or repetitive. For instance, the transition between sentences relies heavily on basic comma splices and repetitive phrasing like 'as a local they have to deal with many problems'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is frequently mechanical rather than smooth. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun use in 'deal with them'. To achieve a higher score, the writer should employ a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices and ensure that ideas flow logically from one sentence to the next without abrupt shifts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to communicate the basic argument about tourism. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'rapidly evolving world', 'foreign currency exchange', and 'contribution to GDP', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and word form, such as 'local festivals and celebration gets intervene' and 'separate markets for locals'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical inaccuracies sometimes cause the reader to pause or struggle slightly to grasp the exact intended meaning. To progress further, the student needs to expand their range of vocabulary and demonstrate greater precision in word choice and collocations, particularly when discussing socio-economic concepts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying heavily on run-on sentences and comma splices, such as in the opening sentence: 'In this rapidly evolving world tourism became the most discussed topic...'. Attempts at complex sentences are often faulty, leading to frequent errors in punctuation, subject-verb agreement ('celebration gets intervene'), and missing articles or prepositions. These frequent grammatical errors cause noticeable difficulty for the reader and disrupt the flow of the text. To reach a higher band, the writer must incorporate a healthier mix of accurate simple and complex sentence forms, pay closer attention to punctuation boundaries, and improve control over basic grammatical agreements and verb patterns.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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