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)

Nowadays urbanization is increasing at substantial rate. As a result in the majority of the nations across the globe, citizens of rural location are migrating to cities. This lead to decline in the population at the countryside. I firmly believe that it is a positive development as people are preferring to live with ample of amenities. I will discuss positive as well as negative development in upcoming passages before reaching a conclusion.

This paragraph will show that why people are moving to urban areas. One of the primary reason is that, modern cities are developing with adequate amount of facilities such as better educational institutes, health care sectors and convenient public transportation. All of these are less likely to access at rural location. Therefore, individuals are moving to cities due to which it significantly foster the country's economic growth.

Another reason of isolating from countryside areas to urban areas is that it provide numerous employment opportunities, as people can work according to their interest as well as their experties. In addition, even some small scale business is also witness as profitable, as many global business tycoons often visit to metro cities to enhance their business prospects. For example, in India, citizen who are working at metropolitean cities are more likely to earn hefty income as compared to rural ones.

Admittedly, there are several advantages of rural areas which can can not be ignored, first and foremost is that it provide eco-friendly environment. People who lived at such type of areas have better living condition regarding to health as there is less pollution in surroundings.

In conclusion, although rural areas have better environmental prospects and longer life expactancy, urban areas have numerous amenities such as employment opportunities, better health care system and educational institutions, I believe that it is a positive development for country's economic development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that urbanization is a positive development. While the main ideas—access to amenities and employment—are relevant, the development is somewhat superficial. The introduction mentions discussing both positive and negative developments, but the essay focuses almost exclusively on the benefits of urbanization, with only a brief, underdeveloped paragraph on the advantages of rural life. To reach a higher band, the essay needs to more thoroughly integrate the counter-argument into the overall argument rather than presenting it as a separate, disconnected section. The conclusion effectively summarizes the position, but the overall depth of analysis could be improved by providing more specific, nuanced examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In addition', 'Therefore', and 'Admittedly', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly forced, such as 'This paragraph will show that why people are moving'. Additionally, there are some issues with referencing; for example, the phrase 'such type of areas' is slightly awkward and lacks precision. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the link between the paragraphs could be smoother to create a more cohesive argument throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated language like 'metropolitan', 'prospects', and 'experties' (though misspelled). There are several instances of imprecise word choice or awkward collocations, such as 'at substantial rate' (missing 'a'), 'access at rural location' (should be 'accessible in'), and 'witness as profitable'. While the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, the errors in word formation and collocation prevent the vocabulary from being considered flexible or precise. Spelling errors like 'experties' and 'expactancy' also occur, though they do not impede overall communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'This lead to' (subject-verb agreement), 'reason is that, modern cities' (unnecessary comma), 'citizen who are working' (pluralization error), and 'can can not be ignored' (repetition). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are persistent and occur in both simple and complex structures. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, article usage, and proofreading for minor slips that detract from the overall accuracy of the writing.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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