Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In country side people do not have lots of opportunities compared to cities. Rural people migrate to cities for a better opportunities in terms of education, job, healthcare and business. Due to which population in cities increase and lead to decrease of population in rural part.

In rural area people have very limited job opportunities as big companies set up there offices in cities with more population to easily find work force.

Big hospital are also situated in cities, as they can attend to lots of people compared to rural places to sustain the cost of hospital operations and all big educational institutes are also set up in city as well, so student do not face problems with transportation and amenities. which is having a positive effect on cities development as people from all the area have one place to rely on for all their needs. countries will face difficulties if all the places were developed equally, it will become hard for business to sustain as the population will be segregated. development will become slow as the work force required for it will not be easily available. hotels and restaurents will close down due to lack of profit margin where they kept low price and focused on quantity order or price will increase to keep operating. While rural side will also face problem as job opportunities will be limited and wages will also be less.

Countries needs people from rural area to migrate for fast development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the migration from rural to urban areas, but it fails to clearly state a position on whether this is a positive or negative development. The ideas are somewhat repetitive and under-developed, focusing more on the causes of migration than on the implications of the trend. Furthermore, the response is under the 250-word minimum, which negatively impacts the overall task achievement. To improve, you should explicitly state your opinion in the introduction and ensure each body paragraph provides a balanced, well-supported argument that directly answers the 'positive or negative' question.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks a clear structure. The paragraphing is insufficient, and the transition between ideas is often abrupt. While there is a basic attempt to link sentences, the use of cohesive devices is mechanical and sometimes inaccurate, such as starting sentences with 'Due to which' or 'which is having'. The logical progression of ideas is hindered by the lack of clear topic sentences and a cohesive argument flow. To improve, focus on using a wider range of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in contrast') and ensure each paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed main idea.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'people', 'cities', and 'rural'. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'rural part' instead of 'rural areas' and 'sustain the cost of hospital operations'. The range is insufficient to express complex ideas with precision. To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to urbanization, socio-economic development, and migration, while paying closer attention to correct collocations and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors, including issues with subject-verb agreement ('countries will face', 'countries needs'), article usage ('in city', 'in country side'), and sentence fragments. The range of structures is limited, consisting mostly of simple or poorly connected compound sentences. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, which are necessary for higher band scores. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, including correct punctuation and the use of articles, before attempting more complex grammatical forms.

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

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