Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-19

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)

I strongly agree that although tourism brings significant economics benefits, its negative impact on the environment and local cultures are often overlooked.

On the one hand, tourism is a vital source of income in many countries. It creates job in the hotels, resturants, transportation and generates foreign exchange. For example, countries like thailand anad pakistan northern area depends heavily on tourists. Governments therefore promotes tourism without considering the consequences, focusing only on the financial gains.

However, the damage caused byt the tourism is substantial and often ignored. From an environmental perspective, mass tourism leads to pollution, litter and the destruction of natural habitats. For instance, in popular destinations like Murree or naran, mountains of plastic waste are left by tourists, and forest are cut down to build hotels. The carbon emissions from flights also contributes to climate changes.

From the culture perspective, tourism can also erode local traditions. When area becomes a tourist attraction, locals often change their lifestyles, dress and food to cater to tourists, loosing their authentic culture. For example, traditional village become overly commercialized, selling cheap souveniers instead of preserving their heritage. Local language and customs can gradually disapear as young people adopt tourist-driven behaviours.

In conclusions, while I acknowledge the economics importance tourism, I believe its environmental and cultural costs are severe and frequently ignored by governments and tourists. Therefore, sustainable tourism policies should be implemented to protect local cultures and the environment while still benefiting economically.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the opening: you strongly agree that tourism’s environmental and cultural costs are often overlooked, and the conclusion restates this view while proposing sustainable policies. You address both areas of harm and support them with relevant examples, including plastic waste and hotel construction in Murree and Naran, and the commercialisation of village traditions. The economic benefits are also acknowledged, which gives the argument balance. Some points, however, are asserted rather than fully explained—for example, how tourism changes local dress and food, or how governments overlook the resulting damage. The response is also 9 words below the required minimum. Develop one or two examples further and meet the stated length to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on economic benefits, separate paragraphs on environmental and cultural effects, and a conclusion. This progression makes the argument easy to follow, and signposts such as “On the one hand,” “However,” and “In conclusions” help show the relationships between ideas. The organisation is effective, though some linking is formulaic, and the cultural paragraph moves quickly from lifestyle changes to language loss without explaining the connection. A few references could also be clearer, such as “When area becomes a tourist attraction,” where the reader must infer which area is meant. Use more varied transitions and connect examples explicitly to the claim they support to make cohesion more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “foreign exchange,” “natural habitats,” “carbon emissions,” “commercialized,” and “heritage,” which helps communicate the main ideas. There is some range beyond basic vocabulary, but inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations are noticeable and sometimes distract the reader. Examples include “economics benefits” and “economics importance,” “resturants,” “souveniers,” and “disapear.” Phrases such as “mountains of plastic waste” are vivid, although “the tourism” is not a natural expression in this context. Check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships as complete phrases. More precise choices for describing cultural change and environmental pressure would also strengthen the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a concession in the opening and cause-and-effect structures such as “Governments therefore promotes tourism without considering the consequences.” The main meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. Subject–verb agreement is inaccurate in “countries … depends,” “Governments … promotes,” and “emissions … contributes.” There are also issues with articles, plurals, and sentence construction, as in “When area becomes a tourist attraction” and “traditional village become.” These errors do not usually prevent the reader from following your argument, but they limit accuracy. Review agreement and article use, then proofread each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb. Aim to retain complex structures while controlling them more consistently.

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