Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-23

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)

Tourism is one of the markets that yield high percentage of profits and plays major roles in every country's economy each year. Even with this we cannot ignore the damages sometimes tourism leads to. This includes to the destruction of enviroment and traditions of public which are often overlooked.

I genuinely agree with this statement that tourism often leads to the culture and communities being misunderstood.

To begin with, tourism holds a major part of every country's reputation and economy. The more the tourists, the more popularity the country will gain and it will also lead to more financial stability. But, every place has it's own traditions and people belonging from those places often hold these customs close to their hearts. For example, in the Holy month of Muharram playing music, laughing loudly or dancing in considered immodest and strictly disrespectful towards some muslim communities which often leads to tourists feeling that these muslim communitites might be conservative or rude.

In addition, every community has its own sacred places and have different levels of devotion dedicated toward it. This means that if something is respected by the community of specific zone, they believe it has to be respected by other communities as well and often when it is not the case it turns into a dispute. As an example, according to Muslim's Mosques are the most sacred places and there are rules about entering the mosques and there are few things forbidden to do in the mosque. Unlike a Church you can't wear shoes in a mosque, their is no choir in a mosque etc. So sometimes difference in cultures leads to disputes because every place cannot be treated the same.

In conclusion to this, the tourism is good for every country but it does not mean that tourists can do freely whatever they want without respecting local customs and traditions. The tourists has to respect every place they visit in order to be welcomed everywhere and contribute to the betterment of society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that tourism can harm local cultures, and the conclusion reinforces the need for visitors to respect customs. The examples about Muharram and mosque etiquette are relevant and show awareness of cultural differences. However, the response focuses almost entirely on cultural misunderstanding and disputes, while the prompt also asks about damage to the environment; this part is not developed. Some claims, such as tourists gaining popularity for a country, are asserted rather than explained, and the examples do not fully show how tourism causes the stated harm. To strengthen the response, address both culture and environmental damage and explain each example’s connection to tourism more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The paragraphs each have a central focus, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “In addition” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the sequence. Overall, the ideas are arranged coherently. However, some links between claims are not fully clear: the first body paragraph moves from tourism’s economic benefits to local customs and then to tourists’ perceptions, without explaining the connection between these points. The second paragraph repeats the idea of cultural difference and dispute, while its mosque and church comparison is not clearly tied to tourism. Use more precise referencing and develop a clearer progression from cause to consequence within each paragraph.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “financial stability,” “traditions,” “sacred places,” “devotion” and “customs.” These choices help communicate the essay’s focus, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “high percentage of profits,” “plays major roles,” “destruction of … traditions” and “community of specific zone.” Spelling errors, including “enviroment” and “communitites,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural, precise expressions—for example, “a significant source of revenue,” “plays a major role,” and “local community.” This would make your ideas clearer and give your vocabulary more control and flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including conditional and relative structures, as in “when it is not the case it turns into a dispute.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors occur across sentence forms and sometimes make relationships less clear. Examples include “every place has it's own traditions,” “people belonging from those places,” “playing music … is considered,” and “The tourists has to respect.” There are also problems with articles, agreement and punctuation, such as “the tourism” and the comma after “But.” Work on subject–verb agreement, possessives, article use and sentence boundaries, and check each complex sentence for a complete, correctly connected structure. More accurate control would make your argument easier to follow.

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

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