Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-07

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 6.0)

According to the one of the recent trends an increasing number of tourists are choosing to travel to unusual locations such as Sahara desert or the Antarctic. There are many pros and cons associated with this kind of tourism.

On the one hand, there are some advantages of visiting places where conditions are difficult or extreme compare to other parts of the world. Firstly, increasing numbers of visitors can enhance the growth of local economy. It can be beneficial for educational purposes as well, as an example people visiting to such difficult locations will learn about ways the local people are adapting to harsh weathers. As people who have visited places like Sahara desert can recognise daily struggles and cop of mechanisms of people residing there. Furthermore, young travellers are choosing such destinations for their personal growth as it help them to become more independent and confident.

On the other hand, there are some drawbacks of visiting challenging places. Firstly, there is huge concern of safety. As these places are generally located in the remote areas, it lacks some basic facilities such as emergency medical support. In addition to that tourists can cause damage to the environment or ecosystem of such places as they are not familiar with it. For instance, they might feed animals with their own food which can cause detrimental effect to animals. Lastly, travelling cost is another disadvantage of visiting challenging places.

In conclusion, along with adventure and excitement that come with travelling to the difficult destinations, it also has some advantages such as personal growth, learning about lifestyle adaptation and many more. However, it has some downside due to safety concerns and expensive travelling to such places.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying both benefits and disadvantages of extreme tourism. The ideas are relevant, such as economic growth and educational value for benefits, and safety concerns and environmental impact for drawbacks. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'cop of mechanisms' is unclear, and the explanation of environmental damage could be more detailed with specific examples. The position is clear throughout, but the depth of analysis remains at a general level rather than fully exploring the implications of these trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the pros and cons. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'In addition to that' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'According to the one of the recent trends'. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent, and the central topic of each paragraph is clear.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'ecosystem', 'detrimental effect', and 'remote areas'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'cop of mechanisms' (likely meaning 'coping mechanisms') and 'harsh weathers' (weather is an uncountable noun). The range is sufficient to discuss the topic, but the lack of precision in some areas prevents a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the Sahara desert'), pluralization ('harsh weathers'), and prepositions ('visiting to such difficult locations'). Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'It can be beneficial for educational purposes as well, as an example people visiting to such difficult locations will learn...'. These errors do not impede communication, but they indicate a lack of control over more complex grammatical structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.