Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-17
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 5.5)
In modern era everybody want to explore world. Most people love adventures. Visiting places where hard to live is an excellent experience which people wants to feel. This way they can enjoy their life. There are some prons and cons for this type of adventures which we will discuss in following paragraphs.
To begin with, most toursits want something different from their surroundings. So they choses to visit Sahara desert or the Antarctic. Both places have it's own habitate. Which is somehow diffferent from world. These places have different climets, foods, wild life and nature. As tourists who visit these places can experience heat or cold, can see how wild life work there, how people living there survive by changes. These experinces can change their thoughts. Example, Some tourist love camles, so they can see different types of camel there. Some loves panguine, so they can see different spices of panguines and fishes .
Furthermore, there are some cons to visit these places. In sahara desert tourist can feel extrerem heat. Which leads to dehydration and afffects their health. They can expose to UV rays which damages their skin. They have to face extreme heat in day time and extreme cold in night. On the other hand in the Antarctic, tourist have to face extreme cold weather. They can face shortness of breath if have respiratory problems. If not follows the rules for clothings than face cold burns and blisters over foot.
In the end we can say that there are prons and cons for visiting these places but with proper plans and preparations tourists can visit these places and feel the warmth of these places. These way they can explore these destinations
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
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 Desert and the Antarctic. The position is clear throughout, and relevant ideas are presented. For example, the writer outlines benefits such as experiencing different climates, wildlife, and nature, and details disadvantages like extreme heat, dehydration, and cold weather. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed and lack extension. For instance, the statement 'these experiences can change their thoughts' is not fully elaborated with specific examples of how mindset shifts occur. Additionally, there are some sweeping generalisations. Consequently, the task achievement fits the Band 6.0 descriptor well, as all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, but some are insufficiently developed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing benefits and disadvantages, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical. The writer relies on basic transition markers like 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'In the end'. There are numerous cohesion and referencing errors, such as 'Both places have it's own habitate. Which is somehow diffferent from world.' where sentence boundary errors disrupt the flow. Pronoun referencing is occasionally unclear or confusing, and logical progression within paragraphs is sometimes hindered by abrupt transitions between ideas. Overall, the structural framework aligns with Band 5.0, as there is basic organisation and paragraphing, but cohesive devices are inadequate and mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic ideas about tourism and extreme environments. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'dehydration', 'respiratory problems', and 'preparations'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'prons' instead of pros, 'toursits' instead of tourists, 'choses' instead of choose, 'habitate' instead of habitats, 'diffferent' instead of different, 'climets' instead of climates, 'camles' instead of camels, 'panguine' and 'panguines' instead of penguins, 'spices' instead of species, 'extrerem' instead of extreme, 'afffects' instead of affects, and 'clothings' instead of clothing. These errors are frequent, but they rarely impede overall communication. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.0 for Lexical Resource due to the noticeable spelling and lexical limitations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative clauses (e.g., 'As tourists who visit these places can experience heat or cold...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and articles, such as 'everybody want' instead of wants, 'how people living there survive' instead of live, 'tourist can feel' instead of tourists can feel, and 'If not follows the rules... than face cold burns'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably with sentence fragments like 'Which is somehow diffferent from world.' and 'Example, Some tourist love camles...'. While communication is generally maintained, the high frequency of grammatical errors places this text firmly at Band 5.0, where attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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