Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

A large number of villagers tend to move to cities in numerous countries of the world, the trend of population decreasing day-by-day in the rural areas. This migration brings many prospects. However, I also appreciate the beauty and natural resources of countryside.

Many people tend to move to cities according to their needs. Some people move to cities because of job opportunities and education. Cities offers many modern amenities like hospitals with modern operating equipments, shopping malls and resturants. For example, villages lack proper education system like colleges, schools and universities, therefore people prefers go to the cities for getting the education. Secondly, villages have no modern shopping centres, grocories mart and ventilation hospitals. Rural areas lack transport system, then people face a difficulty to move to the cities. Villages have no proper roads, then farmers acheive no rights to get access to the grains markets.

Besides this, I always appreciate the natural beauty of countryside. In the cities life is mechanical and very busy. I really like the cities because it's provides a number of facilities. Nevertheless, in the congestion hours the breathing are very difficult. Due to the heavy traffic, horns of cars and trucks are very noisy especially it's a disturbful situation for students. In the villages, there are many lush green fields, animals, peaceful air and natural diet. The natural environment of village fresh our minds.

In the conclusion, I think it has a negative impact on our lifes. Our government provides every types of facility to the villagers. Policy makers outright the ban on illegal things in the village such as robbery, theft and on other crimes. Rural areas plays a central role in the beauty of Pakistan.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing why people move from rural areas to cities and whether this is a positive or negative development. The student takes a clear position in the conclusion by stating that it has a negative impact. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and uneven. For instance, the second paragraph lists several city amenities and rural shortcomings such as "colleges, schools and universities, therefore people prefers go to the cities", but these points lack deeper elaboration. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments are presented as simple lists rather than fully extended discussions. The personal example regarding Pakistan at the end feels abrupt. Overall, this performance aligns with Band 5.5, as the ideas are relevant but remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays some overall organization with recognizable introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs, yet the progression of ideas is often disjointed. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or awkward, such as starting a sentence with "Besides this, I always appreciate..." or "In the conclusion, I think it has a negative impact..." Furthermore, paragraphing is problematic; the third paragraph mixes the student's personal feelings about city life, traffic congestion, and rural benefits all in one block without clear thematic separation. Referencing can also be unclear, as pronouns occasionally lack a precise antecedent. Despite these structural flaws, the reader can still follow the general flow of thought, meriting a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is largely basic and repetitive, with several lexical errors that restrict precision. Examples include "operating equipments" (equipment is uncountable), "resturants" (spelling error), "grocories mart" (unnatural collocation), and "disturbful situation" (non-standard adjective). While the student attempts some less common terms like "infrastructure-related" concepts or "prospects" and "amenities," frequent word-choice inaccuracies and spelling mistakes prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The range is minimally adequate for the task, with vocabulary errors occasionally causing the reader some strain, placing it firmly at a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences joined by basic conjunctions. When complex structures are attempted, they frequently contain errors, such as "therefore people prefers go to the cities" (agreement and infinitive errors), "farmers acheive no rights to get access" (awkward verb choice and article omission), and "it's provides a number of facilities" (subject-verb agreement). Punctuation and tense control are also inconsistent throughout the text. Because errors occur frequently and can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, this warrants a Band 5.0.

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

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