Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-16

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 modern era, migration of rural population towards cities areas has become quite common. Since last decade, many people are moving from countryside to urban areas. Some people believe that, population in countryside is decreasing due to urbanization. In my opinion, it is negative development because people who live in village, they provide numerous benefits to individuals.

This paragraph will discuss some reasons and examples of the negative effects on human lives due to urbanization development. To begin with, the major farming activities are done in countryside. If people move in cities so that the production of grain is decreased. Therefore, people might face food scarcity. Apart form that, it not only affects on individuals' health but also disturbs the financial planning of society. To elaborate, some people use harmful chemical for improving the production of foods and due to scarcity of food, prices of grain are increasing which directly affects on financial planning of individuals.

Furthermore, people need to face a lot of problems in urban areas. Firstly, most of the individuals commute in cities for better employment opportunities. That is why, people do not get jobs due to over population development. What is more, they need to face the number of different troubles such as traffic congestion, noisy environment, rise-rented accommodation and pollution problems. Therefore, rural people are moving to cities, which is harmful not only for countryside but also for cities. For example, in India, Farmers are moving to cities so that, people will face a lot of problems related to foods and pollutions.

Nevertheless, some farmer can develop their lifestyle after moving into cities. They can improve their contacts, so that they can sell their grains without middlemen with effective price. It has quite beneficial for them but the negative points are more significant.

In conclusion, although rural people have some benefits if they move into cities, I believe the disadvantages of this development are more overwhelming such as food scarcity, pollution, traffic problems and health effects.

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 negative development. The ideas are relevant, focusing on food security and urban overcrowding. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument about food scarcity is introduced but not fully explored with convincing evidence, and the example regarding India is brief and lacks depth. While the position is consistent, the essay would benefit from more detailed explanations and more sophisticated supporting examples to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, maintaining the established stance throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with,' 'Furthermore,' and 'In conclusion,' which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Apart form that, it not only affects on individuals' health.' Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. While the overall progression is logical, the use of cohesive devices is not always flexible or natural, which limits the score to a 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'urbanization,' 'food scarcity,' and 'traffic congestion.' However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'cities areas' instead of 'urban areas,' 'rise-rented accommodation' instead of 'rising rents,' and 'effective price' instead of 'fair price.' These errors do not impede communication, but they demonstrate a limited range and a lack of precision that prevents a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the production of grain'), prepositions ('affects on'), and subject-verb agreement ('some farmer can develop'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary commas appearing in several places. While the student attempts complex structures, these are often marred by errors. The frequency of these errors is noticeable, though they rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended message, which is consistent with the Band 6 descriptor.

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