Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-21

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 widely recognized that rural people are increasingly migrating into urban areas, which is a more debatable topic in modern society. Some people argue that the population in the coutryside is steadily declining. In my opinion, this is a positive development because it support economic growth and improves people's quality of life in cities.

One primary advantage is that cities provide better jobs, education, and healthcare. If individuals can have better job or busineess, and they can fullfilment of family and their personal needs. In addition, Jobs provide not only people stay healthy but also live with moedrn technology. People can also learn with better schools and university to gain practical and theoritical knowledge then get higher salaries job to change living standards. For example, a young person who moves to a city can find a better job and receive higher education.

Another important benefits is that migration helps businesses grow and improve the country's economy. Cities need higher skilled and hardworking workers to work in factories, offices, and service industries. Furthermore, As more individuals find employment, businesses expand and establish more employment sector. For instance, Many workers also spent part of their salary to their families in rural areas, which improve the financial condition of their village. This creates benefits for both cities and the countryside.

In conclusion, I believe that moving from rural areas to cities is a positive development. It offers better education, healthcare, and employment opportunities while contributing to economic growth and improving the quality of life for many 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 positive development. The main ideas—economic growth and improved quality of life—are relevant. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'modern technology' and 'better schools' is stated but lacks specific, well-developed examples to fully support the claims. While the task is addressed, the supporting points are somewhat repetitive and could benefit from more depth to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout the essay, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a logical progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Furthermore', and 'For instance' are used to link sentences and ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by grammatical errors, such as in the second paragraph where the sentence structure becomes fragmented. Overall, the information is coherent, and the paragraphing is appropriate for the task.

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 'migrating', 'economic growth', and 'employment opportunities'. However, there are several errors in word choice and form, such as 'fullfilment of family' instead of 'fulfilling family needs' and 'employment sector' instead of 'employment sectors'. Spelling errors like 'coutryside', 'busineess', 'moedrn', and 'theoritical' occur throughout the text. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they limit the score as they demonstrate a lack of precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there is a high frequency of grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('this support economic growth'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward phrasing ('Jobs provide not only people stay healthy but also live with moedrn technology'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence construction often lacks the control required for higher bands. While the meaning is usually clear, the persistent errors in basic grammar and sentence structure indicate that the student is not yet consistently producing error-free complex sentences.

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