Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

People have different views about tourism. Many individuals believe that it negatively affects local cultures and the environment. While I accept that their concerns are valid, I would argue that it brings many positive impacts too, on the economy and other areas.

Tourism is causing cultural commercialization and environmental damage. It is often noticed that visitors show a lack of respect and ethics, contributing to the destruction of the local environment, native customs, and practices of local communities. Secondly, an influx of wealthy visitors drives up local prices for housing, food, and land. Finally, relying too much on travel makes a region fragile during global crises, pandemics, or seasonal downturns.

On the other hand, tourism brings economic growth and cultural exchange. It leads to an economic boost through the inflow of foreign currency. Furthermore, it leads to cultural preservation; tourism revenue helps pay for the maintenance of historic sites, museums, and national parks. The preservation of Hanyang Palace in SouthKorea in relevant example of it. Also, it increases employment opportunities. The hospitality, transport, and retail sectors create millions of jobs for local workers.

In conclusion, tourism causes environmental harm and local price inflation, but I believe that it also brings major economic growth and cultural sharing,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you acknowledge tourism’s harms but argue that its economic and cultural benefits also matter. You address both sides with relevant points, including environmental damage, rising local prices, economic growth, cultural preservation, and employment. However, the discussion is unevenly developed: the harms are listed rather than illustrated, and the benefits receive only brief explanation. The reference to Hanyang Palace could support your point, but it needs a clearer explanation of how tourism revenue helps preserve it. The response is also 44 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop your reasoning and examples. Extend key points with specific evidence and make your degree of agreement explicit in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on tourism’s disadvantages, a paragraph on its benefits, and a conclusion. The progression from one side of the argument to the other is easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. Within the body paragraphs, “Secondly” and “Finally” also make the sequence of disadvantages clear. To strengthen the flow further, connect each example more explicitly to the claim it supports; the Hanyang Palace reference currently appears abruptly. The conclusion also ends with a comma, leaving the final sentence unfinished. More developed links between claims and evidence would make the organisation feel more fully controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “cultural commercialization,” “influx,” “foreign currency,” “cultural preservation,” and “employment opportunities.” These choices communicate the main ideas clearly and show some flexibility beyond basic vocabulary. A few expressions are imprecise or awkward, however: “visitors show a lack of respect and ethics” is not a natural collocation, and “an economic boost through the inflow” could be expressed more precisely. “SouthKorea” also needs to be written as two words, and “in relevant example” contains a word-choice error. Aim for more natural collocations and check spelling and phrasing carefully, especially in the example sentence, so that your vocabulary sounds consistently accurate and appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the concessive structure “While I accept that their concerns are valid” and the relative clause “which create millions of jobs.” Most sentences are understandable, and grammatical errors do not prevent the reader from following your argument. Some errors remain: “The preservation of Hanyang Palace in SouthKorea in relevant example of it” is missing the verb “is” and has an incorrect article, while the final sentence ends with a comma rather than a full stop. The opening claim “Tourism is causing…” also shifts into a present-progressive form where a general present statement would be more suitable. Proofread for complete clauses, articles, and sentence-ending punctuation, while continuing to use varied structures.

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