Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-07-26

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)

During the last few decades, cities around the world have significantly risen in numbers. This worldwide development lead to the creation of several new opportunities. Making people from rural areas move to urbanized areas and leave the countryside. While some argue that this development is overall beneficial others think that it is unnecessary.

As far as I am concerned, I truly believe that the downsides of this tendency clearly outweigh its benefits and that countryside population should be maintained.

In fact, it is undeniable that that city life has some advantages over rural life. For instance, city provides people with greater opportunities. Working in rural areas is limited to a few essential jobs. However, in the city those restrictions are lifted. Moreover, living in the city gives the citizens access to a broader selection of products. From worldwide food to revolutionary tech instruments, the city helps to cover people's needs during all the seasons of year. Which is not the case in the countryside as people are limited to more locally produced food and goods.

However, considering only this perspective may overlook other important factors and lead to an incomplete understanding of the broader issue. As a matter of fact, this dramatical increase of the numbers of people that are moving away from the countryside has long lasting impacts. While leaving the rural areas empty is harmful. Overcrowding the cities is even more. Pollution rates have soared during the last years not only impacting the environment and the ecosystem with life threatening drawbacks such as global warming but also directly impacting humans' health with numerous diseases.

To conclude, even though this tendency toward moving to the cities has few advantages on the short term it proved to be far more harmful than a rural life. A better approach to this development would be to maintain both areas separate and address countryside's needs more.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all parts of the task and maintained a clear position throughout. Your ideas are relevant, such as the economic benefits of cities versus the environmental drawbacks of overpopulation. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For example, while you mention that city life offers more jobs, you could have provided a more specific example of how this impacts rural economies or social structures. The conclusion is clear, but the argument could be strengthened by more nuanced exploration of why the countryside should be maintained beyond just stating it is 'harmful' to leave it empty. Overall, the response is well-focused on the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'For instance', 'However', and 'To conclude' to guide the reader. However, there are some issues with sentence-level cohesion. For example, the sentence 'Making people from rural areas move to urbanized areas and leave the countryside' is a fragment that should be connected to the previous sentence. Additionally, the use of 'Which is not the case' at the start of a sentence is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow. Improving the connection between sentences would elevate your score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'urbanized areas', 'revolutionary tech instruments', and 'soared'. There are some instances of slightly unnatural word choices, such as 'dramatical increase' (should be 'dramatic') and 'life threatening drawbacks'. You also repeat the word 'countryside' and 'city' frequently. To improve, try to incorporate more synonyms or paraphrasing, such as 'metropolitan centers' or 'rural regions'. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that occasionally impede the flow. For example, 'This worldwide development lead to' should be 'led to'. You have several sentence fragments, such as 'Making people from rural areas...' and 'Which is not the case...', which are grammatically incomplete. Additionally, there are minor errors like 'that that' (repetition) and 'impacts' used as a verb where 'affect' might be more appropriate. While these errors do not prevent understanding, they are frequent enough to limit your score.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.