Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-05

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)

For the stability of modern society, few things are more crucial than migrating to urban areas. In many developed and developing countries, a substantial amount of money, effort, and resources is devoted to sustainable urbanization, as it often necessitates the use of various facilities, such as infrastructure, job placement, enhanced transport sector. Nowadays, many would agree that contemporary society has nearly transcended its traditional boundaries and will soon become boundless in its pursuit of creating convenient livable cities for the enrichment of people's quality of life. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that although the population of countryside is declining, moving to cities for stable livelihood is a positive development.

On the one hand, moving to large cities is considered essential for people's lives, creating invaluable opportunities for individuals elevated living standards such as career prospect, access to better healthcare, and education platforms, which are seldom available from living in rural areas. Moreover, residing in cities yields unparalleled benefits for city dwellers convenient and affordable lifestyle, permeating and enhancing almost every conceivable sector of modern society. Since people seek fulfillment and enhanced quality of life through migrating to urban cities, placing greater emphasis on improving sustainable urbanization is an imperative to elevate modern living standards. If this approach is adopted by city planners and governments alike many people stand to benefit significantly. Migrating to urban areas in many nations such as India and Bangladesh, for instance, has emerged as a pivotal model for urbanization and delivering enhanced quality of life for their citizens.

Under certain circumstances, people may shy away from moving to cities, due to a range of challenges, encompassing financial constraints, physical and health crises, technological barriers, adverse environmental conditions, resource limitations, less employment opportunities, competitive workplace, and lack of support from families. While moving into urban areas is widely embraced in many large cities worldwide, In many nations people frequently contend with profoundly substandard lifestyle, financial limitations and deteriorating conditions, when striving to the idea of moving into cities. Therefore, the notion of migrating to urban areas may not always be feasible. However, from social, economic, and national perspectives, if the goals of governments and development authorities dictate that the role of moving to cities is not merely essential but an imperative, they may chose to embrace it.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of governments and individuals to evaluate the role of moving to cities and whether this will bring more negative impacts than positive outcomes. Thus, it is evident that fostering an interest in migrating urban areas is beneficial.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that rural-to-urban migration is a positive development. The ideas are relevant, focusing on economic and social benefits such as career prospects and healthcare. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The second paragraph introduces a counter-argument regarding the challenges of city life, but this section is slightly disjointed from the main argument and lacks a strong synthesis. While the position is clear throughout, the explanation of why the benefits outweigh the drawbacks could be more robustly linked to the initial thesis. Overall, the task is addressed well, but the depth of analysis could be improved to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Moreover', and 'Therefore' are used to guide the reader. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical or the transition between ideas is abrupt, such as the shift in the third paragraph where the focus moves from challenges to a government-led perspective. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences are overly long and complex, which occasionally obscures the logical progression of the argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a good range of vocabulary, using terms like 'sustainable urbanization', 'imperative', 'permeating', and 'pivotal model'. There is an attempt to use sophisticated language, which is generally successful. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in collocation and word choice, such as 'striving to the idea of moving' and 'migrating urban areas' (missing 'to'). While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over word combinations to reach the higher bands. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey complex ideas clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several instances of complex grammar, such as conditional clauses ('If this approach is adopted...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with preposition usage, missing articles, and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'less employment opportunities' instead of 'fewer', and 'they may chose' instead of 'choose'). While these errors rarely impede the reader's understanding of the main points, they are persistent enough to prevent a higher score. Punctuation is generally functional, though some sentences are slightly cluttered.

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

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