Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-27

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)

The growing popularity of travelling to remote and extreme destinations, such as the Sahara Desert or the Antarctic, has sparked considerable interest among tourists. Although such trips can provide unique experiences and educational benefits, they also involve significant risks and disadvantages.

To begin with, one major benefit of visiting challenging destinations is the opportunity to experience nature in its most untouched form. Tourists can witness unusual landscapes, wildlife, and geographical features that are rarely found elsewhere. For example, a trip to Antarctica allows visitors to observe penguins, glaciers, and vast ice-covered landscapes in their natural environment.Morover, travelling to difficult destinations can be personally rewarding. Overcoming physical and logical chalenges may help people develop confidence, and a sense of achievement. Apart from this, tourists can gathered proper knowledge of the particular place and can find the scope into that field.

However, these destinations also present considerable drawbacks. The most obvious concern is the potential danger to tourists. Extreme temperatures, dehydration, unpredictable weather and limited access to medical facilities can make these trips hazardous. Furthermore, travelling to remote area can be extremely expensive because specialised transport, equipment, and experienced guides are often required. The other disadvantge is the environmental impact of tourism. As the number of tourists increased, it disturb the wildlife, generate waste and place pressure on fragile ecosystems that may take decades to recover.

In conclusion, visiting places with difficult conditions can offer unforgettable experiences, valuable knowledge and personal growth. Nevertheless, the physical risks, high costs and potential damage to the environment mean that such tourism needs to be carefully managed. Therefore, tourists should follow strict environmental guidelines and take safety measures while visiting these destinations.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response fully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting remote and extreme destinations like the Sahara Desert and the Antarctic. Your position is clear from the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are well developed and supported with relevant examples, such as observing penguins and glaciers in Antarctica, and noting the environmental impact and high costs involved. You successfully extended your points about personal growth and environmental pressure, which aligns well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organization and progression throughout. The paragraphs are structured logically, starting with an introduction, moving to benefits, then disadvantages, and concluding with a summary and recommendation. You make good use of cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'In conclusion' to signal shifts in your argument. However, paragraphing and transitional flow could be slightly more seamless, as seen in the minor mechanical grouping of ideas in the second body paragraph.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, with attempts to use less common items such as 'fragile ecosystems', 'specialised transport', and 'unpredictable weather'. However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'Morover' instead of 'Moreover', 'chalenges' instead of 'challenges', 'gathered' instead of 'gather', and 'disadvantge' instead of 'disadvantage'. Additionally, phrases like 'find the scope into that field' are slightly unnatural in collocation. These minor lexical inaccuracies place your writing firmly in the Band 6 territory.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms effectively, such as conditional and relative clauses ('where conditions are difficult', 'that are rarely found elsewhere'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, including spelling mistakes ('Morover', 'chalenges', 'disadvantge') and a tense/agreement issue in the third paragraph: 'As the number of tourists increased, it disturb the wildlife'. Despite these errors, the majority of your sentences are clear, and they rarely impede communication, demonstrating the characteristics of a Band 6 performance.

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