Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-04

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 recent years, an increasing number of people have shown interest in visiting remote places and challenging destinations, such as the Sahara Desert and Antarctica. Travelling to these places can provide unique experiences and educational opportunities or to explore diversity.

It also involves considerable risk to go to such unsual places where wild life and temprarure risk are their top and can lead tourists into a problem.

One of the main advantages is to explore new things, learning about nature, wildlife and travel to such places that are rarely accessible to ordinary travellers.

for example, tourists visiting Antarctica can witness iceberg , Pandas and other sea creatures which are only part of that continent. same with Sahara desert where visitors can experience vast landscapes and various traditional cultures, and learn about their food and how people living their lives.

besides that it might have some disadvantages , that being in such cold weather and unpredictable weather conditions can be life threatning at some point. similiarly with Sahara desert , sometimes weather gets too hot their and tourists may suffer from dehydration or heatstroke.

Moreover, increased tourist activities can disturb ecosystem and wildlife , which may have long term environmental consequences.

In conclusion, visting challenging destinations offers great experience and valuable opportunities and enough knowledge and develop personal skills. Nevertheless, the associated safety risks,financial costs and environmental damage can not be ignored. i believe that such tourism can be beneficial if it is carefully managed and safety and cost concerns should be taking into account.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both benefits and disadvantages and give a relevant overall view: challenging travel can offer valuable experiences, but it should be managed carefully. The benefits are illustrated with examples of wildlife, landscapes and local cultures, while the disadvantages include dangerous weather and environmental harm. However, some points are not fully developed or are unclear. For instance, the claim that visitors can see “Pandas” in Antarctica is inaccurate, and the educational benefit is mentioned without explaining what tourists might learn. Safety risks and costs are also raised in the conclusion but not explained in the main discussion. Develop each key point with accurate, specific support and ensure examples directly fit the destination.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure, moving from an introduction to benefits, disadvantages and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “One of the main advantages,” “besides that” and “Moreover” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, paragraphing and progression are not consistently controlled: the opening moves abruptly from benefits to risks, and the main points are crowded into long blocks rather than clearly separated paragraphs. Some links are mechanical or unclear, as in “same with Sahara desert,” and the conclusion introduces costs without a preceding explanation. Organise one paragraph around benefits and another around disadvantages, and use clear references and transitions to show how each example supports its point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “remote places,” “unpredictable weather conditions,” “dehydration,” “heatstroke” and “environmental consequences.” These choices communicate the main ideas and show attempts to use more specific language. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “unsual,” “temprarure,” “threatning” and “similiarly.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “explore diversity,” “wild life and temprarure risk are their top,” and “learn about their food.” Aim for accurate collocations and more precise descriptions of the risks and learning opportunities. Proofreading spelling and choosing natural phrases will make your meaning clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “places that are rarely accessible” and a conditional structure in “if it is carefully managed.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems interrupt the flow. For example, “Travelling to these places can provide … or to explore” does not maintain a parallel structure, while “people living their lives” needs a clearer clause construction. There are also errors with articles, plurals and sentence boundaries, as in “witness iceberg” and the lower-case sentence beginning “for example.” Work on parallel verb forms, complete sentence structures and consistent punctuation, then check agreement and articles during revision.

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