Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-22

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 today in most of the countries people from villages or other rural places tend to move toward the cities, so the population in the countryside is shrinking.

People migrate toward the cities is a positive development for them because they leave cities in search of better life style. Cities are expensive compared to urban areas, although they provides more job opportunities and ease of access to facilities like colleges, universities and healthcare. In contrast, rural areas lacks these resources. However, it has some draw backs as when more and more people comes to cities it became more densely populated which can cause many problems such as pollution, disease spread risks and safety risks.

On the other side, rural areas plays a crucial rule in a country's growth. In villages formers grow crops such as wheat, rice and sugarcane. They harvest food for the country. If more people move to cities the people who harvest crops will reduce and more land will be infertile which would cause negative impact on the country.

As, In recent time a news came out that in Japan some villages has abandoned because older people died and their younger children moved to cities for better life.

Personally, I also left my village and living in city because of my job, otherwise I like village life more compared to the city life as I always feel joy being close to nature and my own people.

In my view, the government should facilitate the rural areas with providing jobs and facilities so that the people should not be forced by the problems to leave their villages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive aspects of migration (job opportunities, facilities) and the negative consequences (overpopulation, agricultural decline). However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the point about agricultural decline is relevant but lacks depth in terms of economic or long-term societal impact. The position is clear, but the argument could be strengthened by providing more nuanced analysis rather than listing points. The inclusion of a personal anecdote is acceptable, but it takes up space that could have been used to further develop the argument regarding the broader socio-economic implications of rural-to-urban migration.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In contrast', 'However', and 'On the other side', which help guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the flow between sentences is occasionally interrupted by grammatical errors. Referencing is generally clear, though the connection between the Japan example and the broader argument could be more explicitly stated to improve the overall progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'densely populated', 'infrastructure' (implied), and 'agricultural' concepts. However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'formers' instead of 'farmers', 'crucial rule' instead of 'crucial role', and 'ease of access'. These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the range and precision of the language. To reach a higher band, the student should focus on more accurate collocations and a wider variety of academic vocabulary.

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. Subject-verb agreement is a recurring issue, such as 'cities... provides', 'rural areas lacks', 'people comes', and 'villages has abandoned'. Additionally, there are errors with articles and prepositions, such as 'in most of the countries' and 'in city'. While the meaning remains clear, these persistent errors indicate a lack of control over basic grammatical rules, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. More attention to proofreading for subject-verb agreement is essential.

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