Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-23

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 has made this world a small village whether people visit some decent places or the adventured places like The Antarctica or The Sahara desert. The upcoming paragraph will discuss the pros and cons of wandering in on such places.

To begin with, visiting the places full of harsh conditions is quite advantegeous in many ways, firstly, these places make people more self confidents against the real life obstacles for example; if someine is facing difficult conditions as a hobby makes them more stronge and potencial to tackle the prolems of real life. Secondly, the individuals who visit these places builds survival skills to explain it more, places with challenging weather conditions leave one with very limited options not only for food but also for clothes, and in this condition one has to have survived.

On the other side, the cons linked to visit places with difficult conditions are also multiple. First and foremost, these places might be stressful for the visitors mentally and physically who struggle to manage daily monotonous, further might loose their confident for the real life challenges.

To conclude, the places where individuals confront the harsh conditions have both aspects postives and negatives as helps to build self confident and the survival skills, and can be stressful, oderly, which are mentioned above.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both sides of the question and give relevant benefits, especially building confidence and survival skills, alongside the possibility of mental and physical stress. However, the discussion is only partial: the disadvantages are briefly stated, and the claim that visitors may “loose their confident for the real life challenges” is unclear and not explained. The benefits also need specific support, such as an example of how a desert expedition develops practical skills. Your conclusion summarises the points but does not add a clear, fully developed overall view. The response is 216 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250; this limits the space available to explain and support your ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin with,” “Secondly,” and “On the other side” help readers follow the main sections. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear because ideas are compressed or joined awkwardly. For example, “if someone is facing difficult conditions as a hobby makes them more strong” does not clearly connect the example to the claim. The disadvantages paragraph contains several points in one sentence, and the conclusion repeats earlier ideas rather than bringing them together clearly. Use clearer sentence boundaries and explain how each supporting point relates to the main idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt topic-related vocabulary, including “harsh conditions,” “survival skills,” “challenging weather conditions,” and “obstacles,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or spellings make parts difficult to understand. Examples include “adventured places,” “self confidents,” “potential” used as an adjective, and “oderly” in the conclusion. Some expressions are also unnatural, such as “wandering in on such places” and “daily monotonous.” Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise terms such as “remote destinations,” “self-confidence,” and “physically demanding” would help express your ideas clearly without relying on repeated general wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “these places make people more self confidents” has an agreement and form problem, while “the individuals who visit these places builds survival skills” does not maintain subject–verb agreement. The sentence beginning “if someone is facing difficult conditions as a hobby” is also structurally incomplete, and “one has to have survived” does not express the intended general requirement accurately. Punctuation is sometimes used where a full stop or clearer clause structure is needed, as in the first benefits sentence. Practise building accurate subject–verb patterns and checking each clause before adding complexity.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.