Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-28

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, a growing number of travelers are choosing to explore extreme destinations with conditions, such as the Antarctic or the Sahara desert. Although this Fearless trend provides unique personal rewards, it also poses significant safety and health risks to the individuals involved.

On the one hand, visiting extreme locations offers remarkable benefits for tourists Searching for unique experiences. The primary advantage is the opportunity to witness untouched natural landscapes and rare ecosystems that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. For example, seeing massive polar ice Layers firsthand vast desert dunes offers profound fulfillment. Furthermore, traveling through Unforgiving Landscapes forces individuals to step out of their comfort zones. Overcoming these tough physical challenges helps travelers test their personal limits, which greatly builds mental resilience and Expands their overall Mindset on life.

On the other hand, Traveling to such difficult environments carries severe disadvantages for tourists. The most prominent drawback is the immediate Hazard to personal safety and well-being. Extreme temperatures, unpredictable Snowstorms, and intense heatwaves can easily cause life-threatening conditions like severe Severe cold injury dehydration. Moreover, these isolated regions completely lack modern infrastructure and emergency medical services. If an unexpected accident or emergency occurs, organizing a rescue operation is exceptionally complicated and expensive, which can put a tourist's life in serious and immediate danger.

In conclusion, exploring regions with difficult conditions provides travelers with Exceptional adventure and immense personal growth. However, these clear benefits are accompanied by substantial dangers, including extreme health threats and a total lack of immediate medical assistance. Therefore, tourists must prepare thoroughly before Setting out on on such Unsafe journeys.

AI examiner evaluation

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 extreme destinations, such as the Sahara desert and the Antarctic. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are well-developed and supported with relevant explanations and examples, such as witnessing untouched natural landscapes, facing physical challenges, and dealing with extreme weather conditions or lack of infrastructure. The arguments are extended effectively in the body paragraphs, resulting in a comprehensive treatment of the topic. The response satisfies all criteria for a Band 7.5 or 8.0 in this area, demonstrating a clear understanding of the task requirements and presenting a well-supported discussion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are structured coherently, with a distinct introduction, two body paragraphs exploring benefits and disadvantages respectively, and a clear concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader through the arguments, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Furthermore'. Paragraphing is managed appropriately, and each paragraph has a clear central topic. While referencing and paragraph transitions are generally smooth, occasional minor mechanical elements keep this from reaching the highest band. Overall, the structural flow is strong, ensuring the reader can follow the writer's arguments without difficulty, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient and generally flexible range of vocabulary suitable for the task. Less common lexical items are attempted with some awareness of style and collocation, such as 'untouched natural landscapes', 'rare ecosystems', 'mental resilience', and 'emergency medical services'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary control issues, including awkward capitalization ('Fearless', 'Searching', 'Unforgiving Landscapes', 'Expands', 'Mindset'), repetitive phrasing ('severe Severe cold injury dehydration'), and occasional minor word choice slips. Despite these imperfections, the vocabulary is adequate to convey precise meanings and does not impede communication. These characteristics place the response firmly in the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses and participial phrases, such as 'Overcoming these tough physical challenges helps travelers test their personal limits...' and 'If an unexpected accident or emergency occurs, organizing a rescue operation is exceptionally complicated...'. There is good overall control of grammar and punctuation, with many error-free sentences. However, occasional errors persist, such as the punctuation slip and stuttered phrasing in 'severe Severe cold injury dehydration' and a double preposition in 'Setting out on on such Unsafe journeys'. These minor errors are non-systematic and do not impede communication. The grammatical range and accuracy reflect a solid Band 7 level of performance.

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