Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-06

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 modern world, tourisim is one of the fastest growing industries and it also contributes to a grate deal to economies around the world. But the damage cause by tourism to local cultures and the enviornment. While it is true that it presents both benefits and drawbacks, I believe that governments and residents should focus on minimise this negative impacts. However, I strongly agree that the damage cause by tourism to cultures and enviornment is often ignored.

On the one hand, oppoents may highligt certain advantages to tourism. They often arguee that it enhances the proportions of foreign exchange of the country. Additionally, it helps people to know other cultures, traditions and lifestyle. Mainly, it helps to the persons communications skills.

On the other hand, some people arguee that due to touirsm it damage the local cultures and enviornment. One of the most siginificant reason is becoming familar with other cultures may reduce their intrest in their own culture.As a result, individuals have adopted modern lifestyles. Primarily, this may contribute to fading the traditional heritage of the country. Moreover, another notable disadvantage is that tourism increases the environmental pollution. For example, improper disposal of waste. Furthermore, it enhances traffic congestion. As a result, this may lead to more carbon emissions. In addition, a recent report indicates the validity of the statement supported by logical evidence, as many countries have started to pay attention to minimise these issues.

In conclusion, although there are convincing arguments on both sides of this matter, considering its highly negative impacts on both environment and culture, it is essential to focus on declining these disadvantages while addressing any potential concerns.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, exploring both the economic benefits of tourism and its negative impacts on cultures and the environment. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. While the environmental consequences are supported by examples such as improper waste disposal and traffic congestion, the cultural arguments remain somewhat superficial and rely on broad assertions, such as individuals losing interest in their own heritage. The writer establishes a clear position agreeing with the prompt, though the introduction contains a slightly contradictory and confused thesis statement that struggles to clearly state the stance. Extending the supporting details for the cultural impacts with specific examples would help elevate the task response to a higher level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, demonstrating a logical progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the opposing viewpoints and the conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The writer relies heavily on basic cohesive markers like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand', and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in 'minimise this negative impacts'. While the structure guides the reader through the arguments, more varied and flexible cohesive devices are needed to achieve a more seamless flow between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing enough terms to discuss the broad topic of tourism. The writer attempts some less-common vocabulary, such as 'proportions of foreign exchange', 'environmental pollution', and 'traffic congestion'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('tourisim', 'grate', 'enviornment', 'oppoents', 'highligt', 'arguee', 'siginificant', 'intrest') and word-choice inaccuracies, such as 'focus on minimise' instead of 'minimising' and 'help to the persons communications skills'. These lexical errors and spelling mistakes occasionally cause slight hesitation for the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. A greater control over word forms and accurate spelling is required to progress further.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and subordinate clauses, as seen in 'While it is true that it presents both benefits and drawbacks...'. However, there are frequent structural errors and issues with grammatical control, particularly involving verb forms and agreement, such as 'the damage cause by tourism' instead of 'caused', and 'tourism increases... and it helps to the persons'. Punctuation errors are also present, and some complex constructions are faulty, causing some difficulty for the reader. While communication is maintained despite these issues, increasing the frequency of error-free sentences and improving grammatical precision will be necessary for a higher grade.

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