Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-19

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)

Nowadays, exploring difficult places has increasingly become a trend. Travellers have started to explored places which have extreme weather conditions like Antractic and Sahara desert. The major advantage is that traveller can experience unique things. However, sometimes it is too dangerous for health to spend time in extreme weather.

The major advantage to visit places which have difficult conditions is that they get a opportunities to explore unique places in difficult weather conditions. They challenge themself to survive in difficult situations which make them mentally and physically strong. For example, many people travel Antarctic and challenge their self to survive in cold temperature. Some of them share their story and get engagements from viewers. Therefore, travellers get unqiue experience and lifelong memories in this type of unique trips.

The major disadvantage of visiting places which have difficult situations is that it is much more expensive to visit these places. The major reason is that transportation options are generally limited in extreme conditions. Due to this limited supply, travellers need to pay higher rate to reach such places. For example, many people pay haptic amount of money to find ferry for Antarctic. There are only two companies who provide this transportation services. As their employees need to work on these extreme conditions, they pay higher salary to their employees. Ultimately, they charge higher price to their customers.

To conclude, explore places which have extreme conditions give unique experiences and get opportunities to build lifelong memories. However, these trips are generally expensive and need to pay haptic amount of money for their transportations.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting extreme environments. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention personal growth and unique experiences as benefits, and cost as a disadvantage, the arguments remain quite superficial. For instance, the point about 'engagements from viewers' is a bit tangential to the core question of the impact on the tourist. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'why' and 'how' of these points with more depth. The position is clear, but the supporting examples, such as the mention of 'haptic amount of money', are not fully developed or explained in a way that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices like 'The major advantage', 'However', and 'To conclude' to signal transitions. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. For example, starting multiple paragraphs with 'The major advantage/disadvantage' makes the flow feel a bit formulaic. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as 'they' in the second paragraph, which could refer to either the tourists or the companies. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring clear pronoun references would enhance the logical flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward word choices or non-standard collocations, such as 'haptic amount of money' (which is not a standard English phrase) and 'get engagements from viewers'. You also have some spelling errors, such as 'Antractic' (Antarctic) and 'unqiue' (unique). While you attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary, the lack of control over these items limits your score. Focusing on learning standard collocations and proofreading for spelling would significantly improve your lexical range and accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For example, 'Travellers have started to explored' should be 'started to explore', and 'challenge their self' should be 'challenge themselves'. There are also issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement, such as 'there are only two companies who provide this transportation services' (should be 'these services'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should focus on mastering basic verb forms and pluralisation rules.

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

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