Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-08

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 many countries across the globe, individulas are migrating to urban areas in search of jobs and other urban amenities hence the population is decreasing in small towns. It is definitely a positive trend because large cities offer better lifestyle compared to rural areas.

To begin with, one of the main reason is that cities offer large job market as compared to villages. This is beacuse of the development in the infrastructure and multiple opportunities for people to earn money or to showcase their talent. For instance, Bangalore is called a IT hub so numerous citizens who are familiar with software development prefer Bangalore because of the job opportunities and it will eventually impact their overall lifestyle. Therefore, to survive and to achieve goals individuals prefer cities rather than countryside.

Apart from this, cities also offer better public transport facilities because of the advancement in infrastructure in the urban areas. For instance, Mumbai is the developed city in India so it offers underground metros, trains, buses and many more public transportation as compared to rural city such as Mangalore, it has limited resources like a bus or a taxi this is because of poor infrastructure. As a result, individuals prefer living in cities because of the enormous facilities that they get which will eventually improve their overall quality of life.

In conclusion, urban areas offer individuals wealthy lifestyle so they prefer migrating to cities, so i believe this is a positive trend becuase it impacts the overall lifestyle of the individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the migration is a positive development. The ideas are relevant, focusing on job markets and infrastructure. However, the development is somewhat limited; the essay focuses exclusively on the benefits for the individual, neglecting the potential negative impacts on rural areas or the broader societal implications, which would have provided a more balanced and thorough discussion. The conclusion is brief and merely restates the introduction without adding depth. To reach a higher band, you should explore the implications of this trend more comprehensively, perhaps by acknowledging the challenges faced by rural communities or the strain on urban infrastructure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Apart from this', and 'Therefore' are used to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the transition between the job market and the infrastructure point is functional but lacks sophistication. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final sentence where the connection between the 'wealthy lifestyle' and the migration trend could be more fluidly expressed. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, but the flow could be improved with more varied linking phrases.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'urban amenities', 'infrastructure', and 'migrating'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'wealthy lifestyle' to describe urban living, which is not quite accurate in this context. There are also minor spelling errors like 'individulas' and 'beacuse'. To improve, you should aim to use a wider range of collocations and more precise academic vocabulary to convey your points with greater nuance and sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('the IT hub', 'the developed city'), subject-verb agreement issues, and punctuation errors. For example, the sentence 'Mumbai is the developed city in India so it offers...' is a run-on sentence that would benefit from better punctuation or a subordinating conjunction. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence variety and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be highly beneficial.

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

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