Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-25

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 6.5)

In recent years, an increasing tourists have choosen to visit places where living and travelling conditions are challenging, such as the Sahara desert or the Antarctic. This essay will elucidate the benefits and drawback for tourists and will testaments in the subsequent paragraphs.

To commence with, the tourist can gain a deeper understanding of nature and different environments. To expand, travellers can see a wide range of glaciers, penguins and other wildlife in their natural habitat rather than simply learning about dicumentaries. In addition, such trips provide tourists with a sense of adventure and personal achivement. These experiences can broaden their horizons and create unforgettable memories. As a result, overcoming challenging conditions can improve people's confidence and resilience. For example, a person who completes a guided expedition across part of the Sahara may feel a strong sense og accomplishment after successfully dealing with extreme heat and difficult terrain.

To further solidify disadvantages, the risks to tourists' healtha nd safety. Extremely high or low temperatures, limited medical services and difficult terrain can make these destinations danagerous. In addition, such holidays are often extremely expensive because transportations, specialist equipment and experienced guides are required. For instance,

an Antarctic can cost considerably more than a conventional overseas holidays, while travellers amy still face unpredictable weather and restricted access to basic facilities.

To recapitulate, visting challenging destinations can offer tourists adventure, personal growth and valuable opportunities. Neverthless, these benefits must be weighted against the risks, high costs and physical discomfort involved. From my perspective , such trips are highly rewarding for well-prepared travellers, provided that they choose reputable tour operators and take appropriate safety precautions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The essay addresses both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting extreme environments, fulfilling the prompt's requirements. The ideas are relevant, such as personal growth and resilience for benefits, and health risks and high costs for disadvantages. However, the development is somewhat superficial. For example, the point about 'learning about documentaries' is slightly unclear and could have been expanded with more specific detail. The position is clear throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main points while offering a balanced perspective. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting example is fully explained to demonstrate a deeper exploration of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the benefits from the disadvantages. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'In addition', and 'To recapitulate' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'an Antarctic' which is grammatically incorrect and disrupts the flow. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the structure supports the reader's understanding of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, with attempts at topic-specific language like 'resilience', 'expedition', and 'reputable tour operators'. However, there are several spelling errors ('dicumentaries', 'achivement', 'healtha nd', 'danagerous', 'amy', 'Neverthless') and some awkward collocations ('testaments in the subsequent paragraphs'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the message. To improve, focus on proofreading for spelling accuracy and refining the use of academic collocations to enhance precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'an increasing tourists have choosen' (should be 'an increasing number of tourists have chosen') and 'an Antarctic can cost' (should be 'a trip to the Antarctic'). Punctuation is generally functional, though there are spacing issues around commas and conjunctions. The errors are frequent enough to be noticeable, but they rarely impede communication. Increasing the variety of error-free complex structures would help elevate the score.

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