Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-05

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)

Tourist attractions has changed over the time. In the past, people fascinated to travel to historical places, whereas nowadays new generations would prefer to visit extreme places where environment conditions are harsh such places like Sahara desert, Antarctica and other coldest region of Siberia. There are many advantages and drawbacks are associated with this trend. This essay will discuss them in detail.

To begin, a significant number of young people would love to visit to the places which they have heard and read in books. They have gained formal education about the nature and difficult conditions and due to their curiosity, they would like to see them in real. Many individuals have dreamed about such places and visiting there would accomplished their demand. It has been seen that people who have visited such places are often feel proud and such experience may increase their confidence. It also widen the perspectives of life. Such experience may encourage them to appreciate the habitable environment.

On the other hand, extreme climate may have negative impacts on their body. There are chances of permanent damage in individuals nerve system. It is mainly because individuals body may not be prepared to face such difficult conditions and a person may end up having frost bites after visiting cold places. Furthermore, completing one journey may motivates them to start another one which means that after visiting Antarctica they would prefer to go more extreme places. There are chances of failures in this matter.

To sum up, despite of focusing on negative sides, individuals may feel more proud and confident after the visits. Modern gadget often help individuals during their journey in terms of locations and ways to face the problems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the benefits and drawbacks of visiting extreme tourist destinations, but the treatment of these ideas remains limited and under-developed. While the introduction outlines that the essay will explore the topic, some arguments lack sufficient elaboration or are slightly repetitive. For instance, the discussion on benefits mentions gaining confidence and widening life perspectives, but these points are stated broadly without concrete supporting examples. Similarly, the drawbacks touch on physical harm such as nerve damage and frostbite, yet the exploration of these consequences remains generalized rather than fully extended. The writer presents a relevant position throughout the essay, but the depth of the ideas prevents the response from reaching a higher level of task fulfillment.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving logically from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing benefits and drawbacks, and concluding with a summary. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. Devices such as 'To begin' and 'On the other hand' are used to signal transitions, but referencing and logical flow between sentences occasionally feel abrupt, as seen in the concluding paragraph where the connection between modern gadgets and the previous arguments is somewhat disjointed. Paragraphing is utilized sufficiently to separate the distinct ideas of advantages and disadvantages, though the internal progression within paragraphs could be smoother and better managed to guide the reader seamlessly through the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a minimally sufficient range to communicate basic ideas about extreme tourism. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items and phrases, such as 'harsh such places', 'widena the perspectives', and 'permanent damage', but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form. For example, expressions like 'Tourist attractions has changed' and 'visiting there would accomplished their demand' demonstrate awkward phrasing and lexical errors. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited lexical control that restricts the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on a mix of simple sentences and flawed attempts at complex forms. Frequent errors are present across various structures, including subject-verb agreement ('Tourist attractions has changed', 'individuals are often feel'), missing articles, incorrect prepositions, and awkward verb formations ('would love to visit to the places', 'despite of focusing'). These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader. Although the meaning is generally discernible, the lack of consistent control over basic and complex sentence patterns prevents the grammar from meeting the standards of higher levels.

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