Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-18

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)

There has been an increase trend of visiting places such as Sahara desert and Antarctic amongst tourists. Travelling to places where the survival conditions are tough is considered to be a thrilling experience amongst tourists.

There are several benefits of travelling to such places. Firstly, people develop the skill of adaptibility and critical thinking. For instance, I came across an article written by a person who traveled to Sahara desert all by himself. He was from a place in England where temperature falls to negative and went to a place like Sahara where the temeperature is extremely high. He explained in that article about how he overcame the challenge of adjusting to heat. Also, the article covered the strategies followed by him in order to stay hydrated and adapt to the climate change without getting sick. Secondly, tourists also develop a sense of gratefulness, that is, being thankful for the facilities and the natural comfort that their original places offers.

On the other hand, there are some major disadvantages of visiting to such places like loss of life. Sometimes traveling to such extreme places can be a cause of death for some tourists. This is because of the scarcity of basic amenities and facilities present in such places. To ellaborate, some tourists get extremely sick due to harsh weather consitions and they do not have an easy access to medicines and doctors.

In a nutshell, just like everything has its pros and cons, likewise, travelling to extreme places has its own set of benefits and losses. The advantage of developing soft skills like adaptablity, greatfulness and critical thinking comes with a challenge of survival.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both sides of the question and maintain a clear overall view: difficult destinations can build personal skills and gratitude, but may also put visitors’ lives at risk. The examples about adapting to desert heat and lacking access to medical care are relevant, and the response meets the task’s main requirements. The benefits are more fully explained than the disadvantages, however. The discussion of danger focuses mainly on illness and limited medical access; another specific consequence, such as exposure, injury, or the difficulty of evacuation, would make this side more complete. The final reference to “soft skills” summarises the benefits, but the ideas would be stronger with more direct explanation of how tourists gain these qualities and why they matter.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear, effective structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, a contrasting paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “On the other hand” make the progression easy to follow, and the example about the Sahara is placed logically within the benefits discussion. This clear organisation supports the reader throughout. At times, however, the linking is somewhat formulaic, and the long article example occupies much of the first body paragraph. You could improve the flow by connecting the example more directly to the point about adaptability, and by using a wider range of referencing and transitions rather than relying mainly on numbered points and contrast markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic-related vocabulary, including “survival conditions,” “scarcity of basic amenities,” “harsh weather,” and “gratefulness.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and you attempt less common terms such as “adaptability.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “increase trend,” “visiting to such places,” and “natural comfort.” There are also spelling errors in “temeperature,” “ellaborate,” “consitions,” “adaptablity,” and “greatfulness.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and control. Aim to learn vocabulary in natural phrases and proofread carefully; for example, use “an increasing trend in visits” and “access to medical care” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “a person who traveled to Sahara desert” and a reason clause beginning “This is because.” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the paragraph structure helps make the argument easy to follow. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with articles, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “Sahara desert and Antarctic” needs appropriate articles, while “the natural comfort that their original places offers” has a subject–verb agreement error. “There has been an increase trend” also shows an inaccurate grammatical pattern. Review article use with geographical names, singular and plural agreement, and prepositions in common patterns. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen the response.

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