Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-02
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 recent years, an increasing number of individuals have started to reside to cities instead of living in rural areas. While this trend offers certain advantages, I believe it even brings some drawbacks, making it both a positive and a negative development.
On the one hand, residing in cities can be seen as a positive development because people can get access to more facilities like, health and education. People in cities often have more opportunities and facilities. For example, people in cities have better education and also have more chances to get opportunities. Moreover, people can easily have access to facilities like hospitals where people do not have to lose their life without proper treatment. This is one of the main reason why people are more attracted towards cities.
On the other hand, there are also some negative consequences of this trend. Firstly, when people started moving to urban areas, there will be crowd leading to environmental pollution. Also, there is more chances of people being unemployed because of more population. Secondly, the government will get pressure to meet the demands of increasing population. For instance, when there is more people, they create more pollution and also shortage of job.
In conclusion, although living in cities provides different opportunities and better facilities, it also creates challenges such as unemployment and environmental pollution. Therefore, I would consider this trend to be both positive and negative.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both positive and negative aspects of rural-to-urban migration. However, the essay falls short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which limits the depth of the arguments. While the position is clear, the ideas are somewhat repetitive; for instance, the mention of 'facilities' and 'opportunities' is repeated without significant expansion. To reach a higher band, you need to provide more specific, concrete examples and ensure that each point is fully developed to meet the length requirement and demonstrate a more sophisticated level of analysis.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Firstly' to signal transitions. However, the flow is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that sentences within paragraphs are more tightly connected to avoid a list-like feel.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic. You rely on common words like 'facilities', 'opportunities', and 'problems' throughout the text. There is little evidence of less common lexical items or precise collocations. To improve, you should aim to use more academic vocabulary and synonyms to avoid repetition. For example, instead of repeating 'people', you could use 'urban dwellers', 'migrants', or 'the populace'. Expanding your range of vocabulary will help you express your ideas with more precision and sophistication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'reside to cities' (should be 'reside in' or 'move to'), 'there is more chances' (subject-verb agreement error), and 'when there is more people' (should be 'are'). These errors occur frequently but do not necessarily impede communication. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate better control over complex sentence forms and ensure greater accuracy in subject-verb agreement and preposition usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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