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)

Tourism is the way to enhance economical growth of the country. Nowadays, there are lot of visiting places where tourists can visit but it might be dangerous for them. There are lot of pros and cons for tourists who visit on dangerous places such as pros are personal growth and firsthand education, cons are severe health risks and high financial cost.

One significant advantage is the personal growth. Travelling through visitors can improve their skills. For instance, visitors can get good knowledge regarding unique landscape that is geographically and historically. Similarly, in Antarctica visitors can enjoy to see penguins and seals in their natural habitat. Many travellers report that these places are comfortable and convenient for the tourists. Also, they can get firsthand education from Sahara desert and Antarctica places.Hence, visitors should visit on these places so that they can come out from their comfort zone.

However, it might be create severe health problems. For example, visitirs who are suffering from Asthma or other medical conditions ,it might be dangerous for them because in the minus temperature oxygen never flows properly in the blood. So, visitors may suffer lot of problems in these conditions. Furthermore, visitors may apply high financial cost if they want to visit on these kind of places. They need lot of safety measures which are costly as well as they have to spend money on travelling. Thus, Sahara desert or Antarctic places are dangerous for visitors.

In conclusion, tourists may achieve lot of benefits and drawbacks of these places. But if they visit with their safety measures they can protect their self as well as they can enjoy the difficult part of the world.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the question by identifying personal growth and learning as benefits, and health risks and expense as disadvantages. The examples of seeing penguins and seals and of travellers with asthma are relevant, and your conclusion gives a general view that safety measures matter. However, the discussion is only partly developed: the educational benefit is repeated in several forms, while the disadvantages are asserted more than explained. The claim that low temperatures prevent oxygen from flowing properly in the blood is unclear and needs accurate support. Your position is also not fully consistent: you recommend visiting these places, then describe them as dangerous, without explaining how the benefits compare with the risks. Develop each point with a clear explanation or specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “One significant advantage,” “However,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the main direction. Within paragraphs, though, progression is sometimes weakened by repetition and unclear links. The benefit paragraph moves from personal growth to skills, knowledge, wildlife, comfort, and education without showing how these points connect; “Also” introduces an idea that largely repeats the earlier education point. Some references, such as “these places,” are broad, and the conclusion does not clearly resolve the contrast between benefits and risks. Group related ideas and use linking phrases to show cause, example, or contrast more precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “personal growth,” “firsthand education,” “natural habitat,” “health risks,” and “safety measures.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning less clear. Examples include “enhance economical growth,” “there are lot of visiting places,” “visit on dangerous places,” and “apply high financial cost.” “Comfortable and convenient” does not clearly describe the experience of visiting extreme environments. There is also a spelling error in “visitirs.” Aim for more precise, natural combinations and avoid repeating “visitors” and “places”; alternatives such as “travellers,” “remote environments,” and “incur high costs” would improve clarity and variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional idea in “if they visit with their safety measures” and a reason introduced by “because.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, verb forms, articles, agreement, and punctuation occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “it might be create severe health problems” has an incorrect verb pattern, while “there are lot of pros and cons” is missing an article. The sentence beginning “For example, visitirs who are suffering…” has no clear main clause, and commas are misplaced or missing in several places. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check articles, plural forms, and punctuation when editing.

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