Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-11

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)

In this modern era, Tourism has become popular among people. it has been noticed that tourists like to travel at destinations, where the conditions are difficult such as Sahara desert and Antarctic. This essay will explain the advantages of travelling such places as well as drawbacks.

To commence with the pros, nowadays, people are more energetic and curious to travel different places around the world. They choose the places with difficult conditions in order to explore the lifestyles and the sources that has been using by locals to survive in those diffcult places. For example, Sahara desert and Antarctic both does not have much clear roads to travel because Sahara desert is full of sand and Antarctic area is occupied with snow and ice. when people travel there they would use those special equipments which cannot be used or seen on clean roads.

There are some negative impacts of travelling such places. As the temperature of such areas is not similar with the residential settings, people could experience instant change in their body temperature which could cause them sickness. A well known disease named as diaherrea could lead into a body which has weak immune system that cannot bear frequent changes in atmosphere.

In conclusion, everything happening around the world has its own good and bad aspects. Travelling in distinct areas could be a new experience for some commuters; however, it could emphasize a lifetime disease for someone with lack of body resistance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both benefits and disadvantages, and the essay stays focused on tourists visiting challenging environments. However, the benefits are not clearly explained: curiosity and exploring local survival methods are mentioned, but the reader is not shown what tourists gain from these experiences. The example about roads and equipment describes conditions more than it demonstrates a benefit. The disadvantage is more relevant, but the claim that travel could cause “a lifetime disease” is unclear and unsupported. Your conclusion gives a general summary rather than developing your view of the balance between benefits and risks. The response is also 7 words below the required minimum. Develop each main idea with a clear explanation and a specific, relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, one on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “To commence with the pros,” “There are some negative impacts,” and “In conclusion” make the stages easy to follow. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some control of progression. However, links within paragraphs are sometimes mechanical, and the benefit paragraph moves from curiosity to local lifestyles and then to roads and equipment without clearly connecting these points. The reference in “a body which has weak immune system” is also difficult to follow. To strengthen cohesion, organise each paragraph around one central idea and use clearer links to show how examples support it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “difficult conditions,” “survive,” “immune system,” and “atmosphere.” There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “distinct areas” and “body resistance.” However, the range is limited and several choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, including “travel at destinations,” “clean roads,” and “emphasize a lifetime disease.” Spelling errors such as “diffcult” and “diaherrea” are noticeable, and “commuters” is not an appropriate term for tourists. These issues sometimes make the intended meaning harder to understand. Aim for more precise topic vocabulary and check spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “places … where the conditions are difficult” and a conditional structure beginning “when people travel there.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. Examples include “the sources that has been using by locals,” where the verb form and agreement are incorrect, and “both does not have,” where the subject and verb do not agree. There are also sentence-boundary and capitalisation problems, such as “it” after the opening full stop and “when” after a full stop. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, passive forms, and sentence punctuation before adding more complex structures.

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