Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-02

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)

there is a ongoing discussion between individuals in today's date that more and more tourists are visiting placdes where conditions are difficult, such as sahara desert or antartica. there are many types of advantages and disadvantages of it fo the tourists who visit these types of places

first, lets talk about the advantages of visting the places where conditions are difficult and not adaptable. the individuals who visit places such as sahara desert or antartica are extremely health and people who visit these type of places are highly adaptable to the extreme environments. these types of places helps to teach something to individuals which cannot be taught by teachers, schools, and books theoratically. an individual get to know about the places more and get to explore it closely by visting that place. when i get to know about a waterfall near my home i just started to wonder how that waterfall could be, so i went to that waterfall i had to go through 200 stairs downhill and i needed to climb 5 rocks then i got glimpse of that waterfall it was amazing when i got see it through my eyes.

second, lets talk about the disadvantages of visting these types of places. visiting these types of places can be very harmful and we can face many uncertainites which can risk our lives so we should go the places which got safety because if by chance we met into an accident there is not any hospital near us to provide ourselves medication.

according my opinion, if you are a kid or teenager you should visit these types of location with your parents or guardian and if you are a adult you can travel these types of places with proper safety precautions and get a medical kit with them for safety purposes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the benefits and disadvantages of visiting difficult environments such as the Sahara or Antarctica. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed, placing the response in the mid-range of this criterion. For instance, the discussion on advantages touches upon learning and personal exploration, but the supporting example shifts abruptly to a personal anecdote about a local waterfall rather than focusing on extreme environments. Similarly, the disadvantages are mentioned briefly in terms of safety and the absence of nearby hospitals, but these points lack extension or concrete elaboration. The writer's position becomes clearer towards the end in the conclusion, but overall, the lack of fully elaborated arguments prevents the essay from reaching a higher level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays an overall coherent arrangement, with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, the advantages, the disadvantages, and the conclusion. There is a basic attempt to sequence ideas logically using transition signals such as 'first, lets talk about the advantages' and 'second, lets talk about the disadvantages'. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and repetitive in its phrasing. Furthermore, referencing and logical progression within paragraphs can be slightly disjointed, as seen in the transition from extreme environments to the local waterfall example. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the text, but the management of cohesive devices lacks the flexibility and smooth flow required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, but the range is limited and constrained by noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling. Throughout the text, there are several lexical slips and non-standard forms, such as 'placdes' for places, 'theoratically' for theoretically, and 'health' instead of 'healthy'. The repetition of basic phrases like 'these types of places' restricts the lexical variety. While the chosen vocabulary successfully conveys the general meaning of the arguments, the frequent errors in spelling and word choice cause some distraction and prevent the writing from achieving a more precise or sophisticated style.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response relies on a limited range of sentence structures, featuring many run-on sentences and frequent basic errors. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often faulty or punctuated incorrectly, such as comma splices linking independent clauses in the opening paragraph. Grammatical inaccuracies are frequent throughout the text, including missing articles ('an adult'), issues with prepositions and pronouns ('go the places', 'provide ourselves medication'), and lack of capitalisation for proper nouns like 'sahara', 'antartica', and 'english' pronouns. These errors require the reader to occasionally pause, though communication is generally maintained.

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