Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-20

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)

It is true that in many parts of the world, villagers are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. I think it is a negative development because of the reduction of skilled workers in the countryside and environmental challenges in cities.

The number of workers are reducing in the villages. Professionals are getting less opportunities and financial facilities in the rural sides. For example, garment workers in the villages get less money for sewing other's clothes, which makes them demotivated. While labors do get enough money from the cities, their migration create imbalance in the village population and people can not get suffcient professional workers. Skillful workers, therefore, are reducing in the villages, which causes the economic conditions of the villages.

Furthermore, the environmental pollution is increasing more in cities. For instance, people in Bangladesh are overcrowding in Dhaka, and because of bad infrastructure of the city they are not getting enough dustbins to throw their unnecessary materials, which pollutes the air of the city. People are using more car in the city, and it reduces the air quality by producing more carbon. Not only does it decrease the quality of air, but it also hampers the health of humans. Consequently, environmental pollution will hamper the future generation, and they will suffer from various diseases.

In conclusion, although moving from the countryside to cities may provide better opportunities for many people, I believe that the overall impact is negative. It reduces the amount of skillful workers in the countryside, and it decreases the quality of air, which is also harmful for the health of city people.

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 the loss of skilled labor in rural areas and environmental issues in cities. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding the 'economic conditions of the villages' is left incomplete at the end of the second paragraph. While the position is consistent, the supporting examples, such as the mention of garment workers, could be more clearly linked to the broader economic impact to fully satisfy the requirements of a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For instance', and 'Consequently' are used to link ideas, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The progression of ideas is logical, moving from the impact on rural areas to the impact on urban environments. However, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'which causes the economic conditions of the villages', where the intended meaning is ambiguous. Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'migration', 'infrastructure', and 'environmental pollution'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'financial facilities' instead of 'financial incentives' or 'economic opportunities', and 'unnecessary materials' instead of 'waste' or 'refuse'. While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the range and precision of the vocabulary used.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The number of workers are reducing', 'labors do get') and awkward phrasing ('people can not get suffcient professional workers'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor slips throughout. While the meaning is always clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. More attention to pluralization and verb forms would improve the accuracy significantly.

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.