Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-13

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Today more and more tourists are visiting places where conditions are difficult, such as the Sahara desert or the Antarctic.

What are the benefits and disadvantages for tourists who visit such places?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 7.0)

People tend to feel more thrilled on an odyssey. Recently, an increasing number of travelers have started to favor expeditions that are harder to complete. Although such destinations contribute to personal growth and unlock unique adventures, these are usually very costly and followed by severe physical risks.

Tourists often travel to places which trial their mental and physical limits. These trips offer intense personal rewards since overcoming obstacles like exhaustion builds mental toughness and significantly improves self-confidence. For instance, when I completed my first mountaineering journey I felt so proud that I kept boasting about it for the whole year.

Tough journeys also create experiences far beyond standard commercial tourism, accessing untouched landscapes and witnessing extreme climates builds unforgettable memories.

On the other hand, exposure to critical injuries and sickness is very common on these adventures. Visitors often find it hard to adapt to harsh conditions such as cold, resulting in life threatening diseases like frost bites. Furthermore, isolated lands, which are mostly underdeveloped, lack infrastructure for immediate medical assistance which could put the tourist's life at risk.

Another hurdle for the majority of visitors is the excessive weight on their budget. While it is better than commercial tourism, it is also far more expensive. Specialized gears and permits costs for the expedition makes it inconvenient for most.

In conclusion, I believe the disadvantages clearly outweigh the benefits. Although extreme tourism makes a person resilience and proud, it is also hard to afford and exposes one's life to unnecessary threat.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses both benefits and disadvantages and maintains a clear position: the conclusion says the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. The benefits are supported with personal experience of mountaineering and the prospect of seeing untouched landscapes, while the risks and expense are also relevant to difficult destinations. This gives the discussion a clear basis and generally extends the main points. However, some claims remain broad: “life threatening diseases” and the high cost of expeditions would be more convincing with a specific example or explanation of how these risks and expenses arise. The comparison with “commercial tourism” is also not fully explained. More precise support for these points would make the argument more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an introduction presents both sides, separate body paragraphs discuss benefits and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates the writer’s view. Linking phrases such as “For instance,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument, and the personal example is placed appropriately within the benefits paragraph. Some connections between ideas could be smoother. For example, the sentence about “accessing untouched landscapes” follows the personal-growth point without clearly showing how it relates to it, and “While it is better than commercial tourism” has an unclear reference. Clarifying that comparison and using more precise links between claims would make cohesion more flexible and less dependent on signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The response shows a useful range for the topic, including “expeditions,” “mental toughness,” “harsh conditions,” “isolated lands,” and “infrastructure.” These choices help convey the challenges of remote travel, and the meaning is generally clear. There are also some inaccurate or unnatural choices that limit precision: “places which trial their mental and physical limits” would be more naturally expressed as places that test those limits; “specialized gears” is not the usual form; and “excessive weight on their budget” does not express cost naturally. “Frost bites” should be written as “frostbite.” Continue using topic-specific vocabulary, but check collocations, word forms, and spelling so that less common expressions sound natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the concessive opening “Although such destinations…” and the relative clause beginning “which are mostly underdeveloped.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. In “accessing untouched landscapes and witnessing extreme climates builds,” the compound subject requires a plural verb (“build”). “Specialized gears and permits costs” also has faulty agreement and sentence structure; a clearer version would be “The cost of specialised gear and expedition permits…” In the conclusion, “makes a person resilience” needs a noun or adjective form, such as “makes a person resilient.” Review agreement and word-form patterns within sentence structures, while continuing to use complex clauses.

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