Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-21
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 5.0)
Nowadays, A huge faction of the people are getting attracted to the places which have harsh environment, for example sahara desert or antartica. In other words, the people is following a trend of visiting places with extreme weather conditions such as maximum temperature or maximum cold for example, Sahara desert or antartica.There are both pros and cons of following this trend.
The advantages of this trend is people who love to explore places like sahara or atlantic can get a distinct experience that cannot be obtained from visiting normal places. The next benefit of this trend is that people started visiting this places will bring more opportunity to tourism among these places.For example, there are significant tourist opportunity in places like sahara or antartica.
The major disadvantages of this trend it is not suitable for everyone. In other words, the older generations are not able to visit these places because they believe that visiting these places are harmful to them. It is also true that it is not only dangerous to elder people but also for younger people too.
There are both advantages and disadvantages for this trend. I believe it is really good thing to explore that places with harsh environment.But from aforementioned points we can clearly understand that the disadvantages overrules the advantages and it is life threatening to explore these places for all the people.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting extreme environments like the Sahara Desert and Antarctica. A clear position is stated in the conclusion, where the writer asserts that disadvantages outweigh advantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive, with overlapping points regarding tourism opportunities and the danger to older and younger generations. Furthermore, the response falls short of the 250-word minimum, containing only 228 words, which impacts the overall completeness and leads to a penalty under Task Achievement. Because of the under-length and limited elaboration of ideas, the response aligns best with a Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is divided into a clear introduction, two body paragraphs addressing pros and cons, and a concluding paragraph, which shows a basic organizational structure. However, paragraphing is somewhat brief and fails to achieve a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, such as 'The advantages of this trend is', 'The next benefit', and 'In other words,' which is used incorrectly. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'visiting this places'. These issues demonstrate a mechanical approach to cohesion that prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, the performance fits the Band 5.0 descriptor for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The lexical resource is limited and basic, displaying frequent errors in word formation and collocation. Examples include spelling errors such as 'sahara' and 'antartica' (capitalisation and spelling inconsistencies), grammatical word form errors like 'tourist opportunity' instead of 'tourist opportunities', and incorrect geographic terms like referring to Antarctica as 'atlantic'. While the writer attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'harsh environment' and 'distinct experience', lack of control and repetitive phrasing constrain the vocabulary. These factors reflect a typical Band 5.0 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control is inconsistent. There are numerous grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('A huge faction of the people are', 'the people is following', 'The advantages... is people who'), incorrect pluralisation ('this places'), and preposition misuse ('explore that places'). Punctuation errors are also present, including missing spaces after periods and commas. These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, matching the profile of a Band 5.0 response.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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