Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-23

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)

The rural people are moving towards the cities causing the decrease in the countryside population is rapidly seen in almost all the developing countries of the world. The reason why people are migrating is because of the need to earn a decent living. In rural areas people don't have enough opportunities to feed their families or to meet the basic needs so for job hunting they move towards the cities. In cities they might get a good job or earn more than what they could earn in rural areas. There are more opportunities for them in cities and they might feel less vulnerable there. However, in my opinion that could be a negative development and the reason is many developing countries depends on the agricultural production. For example: Pakistan is a developing countries and the primary source of production here is agriculture, if people will start leaving their rural communities in order to find job then there would be less number of people contributing in crop production therefore, this would have a negative impact on the economy of the country because a large proportion of economy depends on agricultural production. Moreover the increasing pressure in the cities would result in the large number of workforce and the employment opportunities would be lessen. More jobs would be needed to incorporate the large workforce. Therefore, this migration of the rural communities towards the urban towns is not only affecting our economy but would also proved to be damaging for land as more population means more contribution in the pollution. So government needs to maintain a balance between urban and rural population in order to maintain a stable economy.

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. You provide relevant reasons, such as the impact on agricultural production and the strain on urban infrastructure. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about pollution is mentioned but not fully explained or linked back to the main argument effectively. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more depth and specific detail. The structure is generally logical, but the essay would benefit from a more formal introduction and a clearer conclusion that synthesizes the main arguments presented.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is coherent overall, with a clear progression of ideas from the causes of migration to the negative consequences. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'However', 'Moreover', and 'Therefore', to link your thoughts. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. Additionally, the essay is written as a single block of text; using paragraph breaks to separate the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion would significantly improve the readability and logical structure of your response. Improving the variety of linking words and using paragraphing effectively will help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'migrating', 'vulnerable', 'agricultural production', and 'workforce'. There are some instances of slightly awkward phrasing, such as 'employment opportunities would be lessen' (should be 'lessened' or 'fewer') and 'contributing in crop production' (should be 'to'). While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. Focus on using words in their correct grammatical form to ensure your writing sounds more natural and professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. For example, 'The rural people are moving towards the cities causing the decrease...' is a run-on sentence, and 'Pakistan is a developing countries' contains a subject-verb agreement error. Other issues include 'would also proved to be' (should be 'would also prove') and 'there would be less number of people' (should be 'a smaller number of people'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and correct verb tense usage to improve your accuracy.

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