Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-10

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)

In this contemporary era, the trend of migrating towards the modern cities has been significantly rising over the years. However, a section of society believe that countryside individual are moving to cities for the better life and rural area has been degraded because of this trending situation of moving to urban area around the world. This essay will discuss why it is negative and positive growth and reasons for my inclination will be articulated while concluding.

On one hand, One of the most important reasons why moving to cities is positive. Initially, many children forces their parent to move city for several reasons such as, children not only get chance to study in prestigious universities or schools but also it allow them to access new facilities of the cities for entertainment and other purposes. Another reason is that individual can easily find the jobs. To elaborate, by living in big cities people can easily reach to their destination because of the easily available transportation as compared to rural side, for which people have to wait for longer hours to get buses and travel far away to go home or for job. For instance, in Canada Toronto city has beautiful mode of transport such as city buses and metro train which is very convenient to everyone.

On the other hand, there are many negative affects of living in cities. Firstly , the private vehicle has been increased dues to people who are moving from rural area. Thus, this leads to huge traffic in cities. To add to it, the more vehicle more air pollution in turn affects to human health because of increasing carbon foot-prints.

To conclude, living in cities increase air pollution and leads to serious health issue. I firmly believe it is good for peop

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt but is incomplete, as it cuts off abruptly in the conclusion. While the introduction and body paragraphs attempt to present both sides, the development is uneven. The arguments regarding the benefits of city life are clearer, but the negative aspects are less developed. Crucially, the essay fails to provide a clear, consistent position throughout, as the conclusion is unfinished and does not fully articulate the writer's final stance. To improve, ensure all parts of the prompt are addressed with a balanced structure and that the essay reaches a complete, logical conclusion that reinforces the main argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'On one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Firstly', which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. However, the paragraphing is somewhat mechanical, and the abrupt ending significantly disrupts the overall coherence. The transition between ideas within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive, and the referencing is occasionally unclear. To achieve a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph is fully developed and logically connected to the next, avoiding sudden stops that leave the reader without a sense of closure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'moving', 'cities', and 'people'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary such as 'contemporary era' and 'carbon foot-prints', there are errors in collocation and word choice, such as 'negative affects' (should be 'effects') and 'countryside individual' (should be 'individuals'). To improve, focus on learning more sophisticated synonyms and collocations related to urbanisation and environmental impact, and pay closer attention to word forms and pluralisation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'many children forces their parent' (subject-verb agreement), 'the private vehicle has been increased' (passive voice misuse), and 'the more vehicle more air pollution' (missing verbs/articles). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher level of accuracy. Focusing on subject-verb agreement, article usage, and sentence construction will help improve the overall grammatical control.

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.