Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-16

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)

Undoubtedly, these days people prefer to visit those places where the temperature and climatic conditions are not favourable, like the Sahara Desert or the Antarctic. The reason of this gradual shift is that individuals want to do something which give them challenges and they can learn how to survive in extreme conditions. This essay will discuss both the merits and demerits of this notion.

There are several benefits of this trend. Firstly, travellers will learn how to survive in the bad weather conditions where the temperature goes down to negative 50. During military training in such areas, in the Sahara Desert, only those candidates will pass who know how to live in a harsh environment. It is only possible if someone has visited and took the experience of reality. Secondly, if people start exploring regions like Antarctica, then there would be chances of employment opportunities for the local people because people need small shops from where they could but essential commodities like food and water.

On the other hand, there are several drawbacks of this situation. It has been observed that the chances of coming back alive are very less from such places. According to a recent survey by a travel company, only 10 percent survival rate is noticed in 2025. Futhermore, it is very expensive trip only a few people will imagine to make in their lifetime.

In conclusion, although extreme climatic areas are preparing people to survive in harsh situations, creating job opportunities for the local dwellers, also creating an atomsphere of threat among people because of the alive rate.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting extreme environments like the Sahara or Antarctica. The position is clear throughout the essay. Ideas are presented, such as learning survival skills and creating employment opportunities for local people on the benefit side, and high mortality rates and high costs on the drawback side. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or supported with weak or improbable examples, such as the claim that only a 10 percent survival rate was noticed in 2025. This falls under Band 6 because it addresses all parts of the task, but some ideas lack sufficient logical extension and reliable support.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for merits and demerits, and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to divide the main themes. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'On the other hand' are employed to guide the reader through the text, although referencing is sometimes slightly mechanical. For example, in the conclusion, the phrasing 'also creating an atomsphere of threat' lacks clear syntactic linkage to the preceding clause. Overall, the logical progression is clear enough to meet the criteria for a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'climatic conditions', 'survival rate', and 'essential commodities'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including 'atomsphere' instead of 'atmosphere', 'futhermore' instead of 'furthermore', and awkward collocations like 'alive rate' instead of 'survival rate'. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6, as the vocabulary attempts are sometimes marred by inaccuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Undoubtedly, these days people prefer to visit those places where the temperature and climatic conditions are not favourable...' However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including 'The reason of this gradual shift' (preposition error), 'give them challenges' (subject-verb agreement error with 'give'), and 'visited and took the experience of reality' (awkward phrasing). Punctuation and minor grammatical slips occur frequently, though they rarely impede communication. This performance aligns well with Band 6 descriptors.

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