Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-05

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 6.0)

In recent years, an increasing number of people in many countries have chosen cities and leave the rural areas for the sake of better facilities and to secure the future. Although migrating towards towns or cities may have some disadvantages like overpopulation, I believe that overall it is a positive development.

There are several reasons why people have been move to developed cities. One of the major reasons is that compared with countryside, cities have exceptional facilities. For example, a large number of individuals plan to live in cities for better facilities of hospitals, road infrastructure and have world-class educational institutions. These opportunities are not normally available in rural areas. Moreover, in urban places there are different job markets which sometimes did not require any experience. For instance, call centers are always open to hire fresher graduates which helps them to improve their financial conditions. Therefore, these distinct advantages attract number of rural area people and in response, they settle their.

On the other hand, there are also some drawbacks associated with this approach. One of the major disadvantages is that permanently settling in well-developed areas could cause over-population. Cities are organized and planned according to the people in these places. But with migration of people, it may effect the structure and organisation of the city, so that it is difficult for local bodies to manage their operations properly. In a result, governments alter the design of that places by reducing the places for parks or green-area and reserve it for commercial purposes. So that temperature rises in these areas. In addition, there is a significant rise in pollution.

In conclusion, shifting towards cities may have some de-merits. Nevertheless I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages by providing facilities and opportunities which are not available in rural areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the migration is a positive development. The ideas are relevant and supported with examples, such as the mention of job markets and educational institutions. However, the development of the 'negative' side is slightly more detailed than the 'positive' side, and some points, such as the link between urban planning and temperature rise, are a bit generalized. To reach a higher band, ensure that the supporting arguments for your main position are as fully developed as the counter-arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the benefits and drawbacks. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'For instance', and 'On the other hand' are used to guide the reader. However, there are some minor issues with referencing and flow, such as 'In a result' (should be 'As a result') and 'settle their' (should be 'settle there'). These minor mechanical errors do not significantly impede communication, but they do prevent the flow from being entirely smooth.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'infrastructure', 'educational institutions', and 'over-population'. However, there are some word choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'have been move' (should be 'have been moving'), 'fresher graduates' (should be 'recent graduates'), and 'design of that places' (should be 'design of those places'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not prevent the meaning from being clear. Expanding your range of academic collocations would help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms ('have been move') and articles/determiners ('the countryside', 'a number of'). Punctuation is generally fine, but there are some errors in subject-verb agreement and preposition usage, such as 'in response, they settle their'. The majority of sentences are understandable, but the frequency of these small errors limits the score to a 6.0.

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