Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing.

Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Nowadays, rural habitants are migrating from village to cities which cause decreasing population in rural area. From my perspective, it is a negative development because it causes a lots of pollution and traffic congestion. The goverment should recognise this issues and take action to prevent it.

One major disadvantage is the traffic congestion that are happening from over urbanization. When people move to urban area, lots of vehicle need for transportation which creates the traffic and people are suffering from this because it is very time consuming. For example, when people are going to office or any other important jobs, they might stuck into traffic and it also endanger their profession. As a result, growing citizens in cities need huge amount transport which causes trouble for job holders.

Another significant drawback is environmantal effects. In other words, whenever, people come to cities for living they don't have any proper place to stay and they goes to slum where people leads a very unhygenic lifestyle. They gather in one place and also use open place for toilet and throw waste. It has a detrimental effect on our ecosystem. For example, when people throw trash here and there it pollute the soil and water where a lots of species are living. This wastage can hamper their life and die also.

In conclusion, i strongly believe that this is a negative development because it can create several problems for individuals and environment, particularly in terms of traffic and environmental degradation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider rural-to-urban migration negative, and the conclusion restates this view. You also give two relevant reasons—traffic congestion and environmental harm—and include examples such as commuters getting stuck in traffic and waste polluting soil and water. However, the ideas are only partly developed: the link between congestion and harm to people’s jobs is asserted rather than explained, while the environmental paragraph focuses on slum conditions without showing how migration itself leads to them in detail. The response is also three words below the required minimum. Develop each reason with a clearer chain of cause and effect and a more specific example to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate disadvantages, and a conclusion. Topic sentences such as “One major disadvantage” and “Another significant drawback” help readers follow the main points, and examples generally appear in the relevant paragraphs. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For instance, “As a result” introduces a point that largely repeats the preceding claim, and “In other words” does not accurately restate the idea that follows. The reference in “This wastage” is also unclear. Improve progression by making each sentence add a distinct step to the argument, and use linking phrases only when their logical relationship is precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “traffic congestion,” “over urbanization,” “slum,” “ecosystem,” and “detrimental effect,” which helps communicate the subject. There is also an attempt to vary wording rather than relying entirely on basic terms. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors reduce precision: “rural habitants,” “huge amount transport,” “environmantal effects,” and “unhygenic lifestyle” are examples. Some expressions are also awkward, such as “endanger their profession” and “wastage can hamper their life.” Build accuracy by learning common collocations for urban growth, transport, and pollution, and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “because,” “when,” and “whenever.” The overall meaning is usually understandable, but errors occur across the response and sometimes make relationships difficult to follow. Examples include “which cause decreasing population,” “the traffic congestion that are happening,” “they goes to slum,” and “it pollute the soil.” These show problems with subject–verb agreement, verb forms, and articles. There are also faulty constructions such as “they might stuck into traffic.” Practise checking the subject and verb in each clause, and make sure modal verbs are followed by the base form. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas clearer.

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