Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-13

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 6.5)

In majority of the nations, people are migrating from rural areas to urban areas resulting in population decrease in the countryside. This has a negative impact in the development of the country as more people are populating the cities which makes cities more crowded. Additionally, the economic development and contribution from the rural areas halts.

More crowding and overpopulation in the cities will result in need to provide more facilities and job opportunities in the cities which will ultimately make the focus more on cities than on the development on rural areas. The same situation is faced by the capital city of Nepal, where numbers of students and skilled manpower flock every year for the purpose of better job and education. This has resulted in lack of agricultural development and the "agriculturally rich" country has to depend on basic agricultural produce from their neighbouring nations.

Furthermore, the plans that government has made for the development of rural areas also halt as the main focus remains on providing the overpopulation of cities with facilities, infrastructures and so on. This will make the nation a few decades back on development in rural areas. For instance, the people living in the remote areas in the countryside still do not receive the necessary infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, electricity and so on, all due to the overpopulation in the cities. This has made the people living there have a difficult life.

Lastly, the attractive facilities and services has appealed a lot of people to the cities, however the conditions in the countryside has been negatively influenced. This does more harm than good for the nation as a whole.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the opening: you consider rural-to-urban migration negative, and you maintain this view through the conclusion. You address the effects on both cities and rural communities, supporting your argument with the example of Nepal’s capital and the country’s reliance on neighbouring nations for agricultural produce. The discussion of limited rural infrastructure also gives the response relevant support. This fits the descriptor because the task is addressed and the main ideas are extended with examples. Some claims, however, are broad or not fully explained: for instance, the link between urban population growth and government plans for rural development “halting” would be stronger with a clearer explanation or evidence. Develop each cause-and-effect link more precisely to make the support more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs develop consequences, and the final paragraph restates your judgement. Sequencing phrases such as “Additionally,” “Furthermore,” and “For instance” help readers follow the argument, and the Nepal example is placed where it supports the discussion of agricultural decline. This is coherent overall and shows some flexibility in linking ideas. However, the repeated focus on cities becoming crowded and rural development being neglected makes progression feel somewhat repetitive. The final paragraph introduces “attractive facilities and services” but largely repeats the conclusion rather than adding a distinct final insight. Use clearer links between each paragraph’s main point and vary how you refer to the effects, so cohesion feels less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “rural areas,” “overpopulation,” “agricultural development,” “skilled manpower,” and “infrastructure.” These choices make the argument clear, and phrases such as “flock every year” convey movement effectively. There are also attempts at more formal wording, including “contribution” and “development.” At times, however, word choice and collocation are imprecise: “the economic development and contribution from the rural areas halts” is awkward, while “make the nation a few decades back on development” does not express the intended idea naturally. “More crowding” and repeated use of “development” also limit precision. Build a stronger range of natural collocations and choose specific terms for the economic and social effects you describe.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including complex cause-and-effect structures such as “This has resulted in lack of agricultural development and the ‘agriculturally rich’ country has to depend…” and a relative clause in “the people living in the remote areas…”. These structures help you explain connected ideas, and the overall meaning remains understandable. However, grammatical control is uneven, with errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “the economic development and contribution … halts” has a plural subject with a singular verb, and “the attractive facilities and services has appealed” has the same agreement problem. “In majority of the nations” also needs an article. Review subject–verb agreement and article use, then proofread complex sentences to ensure their parts are grammatically complete.

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