Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-16

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)

Rural-to-urban migration is becoming increasingly common in many parts of the world, leading to a decline in countryside populations. I believe this is largely a negative development because it can weaken rural communities and put additional pressure on cities.

One major drawback is that rural areas may lose a large proportion of their young and working-age population.As most people moving out of rural areas to cities would be young aged people. This could go negatively as this would affect economy of rural area. Common occupations in rural areas such as milking cow, or running shops could be stopped due to scarcity of people willing to do it. It could affect other people as well. If fewer people will work in such occupations then there will be scarcity. Due to scarcity remaining people working could exploit the power. example, if milk in only produced by few milkmen in a rural area, those milkmen could charge high for per litre of milk. As something is low in supply it;s value increases. this could seriously affect that region and areas near it.

Another concern is that rapid migration can create pressure on urban infrastructure. AS more amount of people will move to city, city would need proper infratructure to support their lifestyle. It is not easy to create such infrasturctura facilities in short period of time. More number of people moving into city would also create scarcity in job demands in urban areas.

For example if someone from rural area moves to city, he\she would need a house to live in, a job to provide for their lifestyle. So he/she is now competeing with all other individuals in city for a job.

In conclusion, although moving to cities can provide individuals with better employment and educational opportunities, I consider the decline of rural populations to be a negative development because it can damage rural communities while increasing pressure on urban areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt directly, taking a clear position that the migration from rural to urban areas is a negative development. The writer identifies two main drawbacks: the weakening of rural communities through the loss of working-age populations and the mounting pressure on urban infrastructure and job markets. While the arguments are generally relevant and supported with explanations, the development of ideas tends to be repetitive and somewhat simplistic, particularly the extended example about local milkmen and supply scarcity. The conclusion effectively restates the position and summarises the main points. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some areas are slightly under-developed or rely on repetitive reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs representing distinct ideas, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, cohesion within paragraphs is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the transition between sentences in the second body paragraph is abrupt, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'As something is low in supply it;s value increases.' Furthermore, typographical errors and punctuation issues, such as missing spaces after periods like '.As most people', disrupt the flow. While logical organisation is present, the repetitive phrasing and mechanical cohesive devices place this response firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'infrastructure', 'scarcity', and 'employment opportunities'. However, there are noticeable word-choice errors, awkward collocations, and grammatical form issues, such as 'young aged people', 'milking cow', 'per litre', and 'competeing'. Spelling mistakes like 'infratructure' and 'infrasturctura' also occur. Although these errors do not impede overall communication, they demonstrate a lack of precision and control over less common lexical items. The lexical range is sufficient for the task and satisfies the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures through conditional clauses and relative pronouns, such as 'If fewer people will work in such occupations then there will be scarcity.' However, control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, article usage, and subject-verb agreement, including 'milk in only produced', 'More number of people', and 'he\she would need'. Punctuation errors are also present, notably missing spaces after full stops. Despite these frequent errors, the meaning remains mostly clear and communication is rarely impeded, aligning well with the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range. A score of 6.0 is awarded as the mix of structures and intelligible delivery offset the frequency of mechanical and grammatical slips.

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