Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-24

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 today's world, tourism in palces with difficult condition like Sahara dessert or the Antractic become more and more demanding by tourists. In this essay we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this preference.

There are several benefits to the extrem tourism. Firstly, It help in personnal growth by facing new challenges in difficult envirenments like sand surfing or montain climing, in addition, stepping out of your comfort zone and enjoy the natural beauty is exremelly satisfaying. Secondly, it gave an escape from modern life, for exmple due to the limited cellural services and intrenet acces you can no long scroll your phone all the time. Also it's consodered as a digital ditox from the stress of work and the noises of the city, which give an excellent oppertonnity to enjoy the silence and quite sounds of the nature that calm the nerves system.

However, there are also some drawbacks, One major disadvantage is the body fatigue because traveling in the snow or the sand need a high level of energy and fitness that may be difficult to achive. Moreover, the weather coditions, such as extrem cold or intence heat may effect the health and even cause a serouis risk. Plus there is safety consern, for instance beeing lost in the Sahara or the Antractic is a big problem because teh rescue will take a long time to come, we all heard of people getting lost there and no one been able to find them yet.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the question, giving benefits such as personal growth and a break from digital distractions, and disadvantages including fatigue, health risks and difficulty getting rescued. These points are relevant, but several are asserted rather than explained or supported with a specific example. For instance, the claim that visitors may be lost and “no one been able to find them yet” is broad and would be more convincing with a clear, accurate example or explanation. The opening announces the topic but does not establish a clear overall view of how the benefits compare with the risks. The response also falls three words short of the required 250-word minimum. Develop each main point further and add a concise conclusion to complete the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits and one on disadvantages. The sequence within each paragraph is generally easy to follow, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “However” and “Moreover” help show the direction of the argument. However, the linking can feel mechanical, and some connections between ideas are not fully clear. For example, the sentence beginning “Also it's considered as a digital detox” adds to the previous point but could be integrated more smoothly, while “Plus there is safety concern” introduces another drawback abruptly. The response ends without a concluding paragraph, so the discussion feels unfinished. Use fewer formulaic transitions, make relationships between examples and claims explicit, and finish by summarising the main comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “personal growth,” “comfort zone,” “digital detox,” “body fatigue” and “safety concern.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning is usually recoverable. However, spelling errors are frequent and sometimes make reading less fluent: examples include “palces,” “Antractic,” “envirenments,” “satisfaying” and “consern.” Some word combinations are also unnatural, such as “extrem tourism,” “limited cellural services” and “quite sounds of the nature.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations—for example, “adventure tourism,” “limited mobile-phone coverage” and “the quiet sounds of nature”—and proofread spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would make the discussion clearer and more convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “such as” and “which,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence boundaries occur often enough to affect accuracy. For example, “tourism … become” needs subject–verb agreement, “It help” should be “It helps,” and “which give” does not agree with its singular reference. The phrase “we all heard” also needs an appropriate auxiliary, while the final sentence joins several ideas without clear punctuation. Build accuracy by checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, consistent tense, and correct agreement. Practise complex sentences, but keep them controlled rather than joining too many clauses together.

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.