Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-06

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, there is a new trend taking place in many countries, people from villages and small towns are migrating to bigger cities. This can have an impact on both sides, positives and negatives. In this essay I will explain both the advantages and disadvantages of this new trend taking place. I partially agree that this trend can impact the countryside in a negative way.

Let's begin by looking at the positive side of rural people moving to urban areas. One of the main positive aspects of this movement is that it provides rural people get better opportunities with regarding their professional career and a better paycheck as well, this can make their families loosen their monthly budget a bit. In addition to that, urban areas or cities are known to have better education compared to rural schools. Children can study an advanced syllabus and get good quality education and also get employed in the city itself. Although cities also have better connectivity with frequent public transport facilities and ecstatic hospitals as well, this is a win-win situation for people who move from villages to cities.

On the other hand, in my point of view, this trend can also have a few demerits, such as more people moving out of villages also mean that more people are coming into cities, this can cause a huge population rise in the cities. In addition to that, people leaving rural areas can be detrimental towards the development of these areas, the amount of crop production can see a new low. Villages are the foundation of a city, every city was once a village, a village which could have been developed into a small town can lose the opportunity as people move out from villages. These are some of the disadvantages I see in this new trend.

To conclude, families or bachelors moving out from villages or small towns to metropolitan cities can have a positive impact to their lives personally but when it comes to the development of the country, this trend can be detrimental as villages remain villages where as cities will be overfilled with people which can cause scarcity of water and increased prices on everything.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of rural-to-urban migration. You clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While you provide reasons for the benefits (career opportunities, education), the negative impacts on rural areas are less thoroughly explored. For instance, the point about 'crop production' is a strong idea but lacks specific supporting detail or examples to fully develop the argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is supported by a clear explanation or a concrete example to demonstrate the depth of your reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In addition to that', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother; for example, in the third paragraph, the connection between the population rise in cities and the decline of rural areas could be more explicitly linked to improve the overall progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'metropolitan', 'detrimental', and 'scarcity'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'ecstatic hospitals' is an incorrect collocation; 'ecstatic' describes a feeling of joy, not the quality of medical facilities. Similarly, 'loosen their monthly budget' is not a standard idiomatic expression. To improve, focus on learning collocations—words that naturally go together—and avoid using sophisticated-sounding words if you are not entirely certain of their precise meaning in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with comma splices and run-on sentences. For example, '...paycheck as well, this can make their families...' should be two separate sentences or joined with a semicolon. There are also minor errors in subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as '...can see a new low.' While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for sentence boundaries and basic grammatical accuracy.

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