Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-11

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 6.0)

Nowadays, in a lot of countries around the world, individuals from countryside are relocating to cities, so the number of people in these places is decreasing. In my view, this has both negative and positive impact. In this essay I will discuss both sides of development in detais.

On a negative side, I believe that moving rural people to cities consider a direct threat to the environment. This is becuse the more the number of people increase, the more the pollution will increase. For example, if the population size in some city has doubled, this is mean the consumption of trasportations such as cars and buses will be increased. As a result, the air will be more polluted which can make a respiratory-related illness and this could harm people and environment. Furthermore, this increasing would put pressure on the city's facilities and services

which can lead to less quality of live of residents.

However, the relocating of people to cities has a positive impact on them, where they can find more opportunities which will enhance their financial situation. For instance, when people are moving to cities, they can invest more in this open market. in addition to they will find high salary's jobs which make them earn more money and this never be happened in countryside because less opportunities can be found there. Moreover, they can provide a bright future for their children education in international schools.

To sum up, moving people from countryside to cities is a double-edged weapon, this is because it can harm both people and environment in these cities. But it also can provide high level live for those rural families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the question by presenting both disadvantages and advantages of rural-to-urban migration, and your position—that it has both positive and negative effects—is clear in the introduction and conclusion. The environmental effects and pressure on city services are relevant, as are employment and educational opportunities for families. However, the task asks whether this is a positive or negative development, so the response would be stronger if you made a clear overall judgement about which side outweighs the other. Some points are also less fully developed: for example, the claim that people can “invest more in this open market” is not explained, and the effect of declining rural populations is not considered. Develop fewer points with specific explanations or examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for negative and positive effects, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “For example,” “Furthermore,” “However,” and “To sum up” help readers follow the main progression. This meets the lower-band expectation of a coherent overall structure and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger cohesion. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. “In addition to” does not connect grammatically to the following clause, and the conclusion’s “this is because” does not clearly explain the preceding “double-edged weapon” claim. Improve the links between individual claims, and use pronouns and transitions only when their references and logical relationships are clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “pollution,” “respiratory-related illness,” “facilities and services,” and “financial situation.” There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “double-edged weapon,” although this is usually phrased as “a double-edged sword.” At this level, however, noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors reduce precision. Examples include “consumption of trasportations,” “high salary’s jobs,” and “high level live”; these phrases may make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Spelling errors such as “becuse” and “detais” also need attention. Build accuracy by learning common word partnerships and checking spelling, rather than relying on phrases that sound translated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex forms, including conditional and result structures: “if the population size … has doubled” and “which can lead to…” This allows you to explain causes and consequences, and your main meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “moving rural people to cities consider” needs a correctly formed subject and verb, while “this is mean” and “this never be happened” use incorrect verb forms. The final sentence joins two complete ideas with a comma, creating a run-on sentence. Practise checking each clause for a clear subject and correctly formed verb, and use full stops or conjunctions to connect complete sentences.

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

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