Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-19

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 many nations around the globe, individuals are moving from countryside to metropolitan areas. Therefore, the population from the village is minimising. In my viewpoint,negative development outweigh positive development to a large extent. My preference is explained further.

The foremost argument to support my view is that, it may affect agriculture. If many individuals move to city, there are few worker available in the countryside. Therefore, production of crop become low and it produce food scarcity. For instance, a recent survey in the India showed that, nation suffering wheat food production due to migration to cities and it force the government to import wheat from other nations. In addition, the authority do not focus on areas of the village. This is because they develop infrastructure such as schools, colleges and public transport where they gain profit. Consequently, people who live in the countryside may not have to access this standards.

Furthermore, multinational companies should not show interest in establish their companies in the country side. Since more people moving to the city areas, they select these areas for build up their organisation. As a result, workers have to travel to other place for job and study.

However, the positives should not be overlooked. The most important is that city area provides more opportunities. Because in the urban areas many reputed colleges and universities are situated for study. Hence, many parents decide to move in the metropolitan when children become younger.

In conclusion, although there is advantages like it provide more opportunities, I believe that it have more disadvantages such as crop production affected and infrastructure not develop.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the migration is a negative development. The ideas are relevant, such as the impact on agriculture and infrastructure. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about multinational companies is not fully explained, and the connection between infrastructure and profit could be more clearly articulated. While the response covers all parts of the task, the supporting arguments lack depth and specific detail, which prevents it from reaching a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, maintaining a consistent stance throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Therefore', 'In addition', 'Furthermore', and 'Consequently', which help guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are instances where the logical flow between sentences is slightly disjointed, such as the transition between the discussion of multinational companies and the counter-argument regarding urban opportunities. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is generally clear, though it lacks the sophisticated flow required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There are some attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'metropolitan areas', 'infrastructure', and 'migration'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of awkward word choices or collocations, such as 'nation suffering wheat food production' and 'infrastructure not develop'. The repetition of basic words like 'areas' and 'people' also limits the lexical variety. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise academic collocations and synonyms to avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'production of crop become low', 'authority do not focus', 'it have more disadvantages') and article usage. There are also errors in verb forms, such as 'for build up their organisation' instead of 'for building up their organization'. These errors are noticeable and occur frequently, although they do not significantly impede communication. A greater focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be beneficial.

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