Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-17

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 many countries, people are moving from rural areas to cities. Because of this, the population of the countryside is becoming smaller. This essay will discuss the reasons for this situation and its effects.

There are several reasons why people move to cities. First of all, there are many job opportunities in big cities. People can find jobs in offices, factories, shops and other businesses. They can also earn more money than in rural areas. Secondly, cities have better facilities such as hospitals, schools, universities and transport. Young people especially move to cities because they want to get a good education and find a better job. On the other hand, villages often have fewer facilities and less work.

This situation has some negative effects on both cities and rural areas. When many people move to cities, the population becomes very high. As a result, cities can have problems such as traffic, pollution and expensive houses. Rural areas also face problems because there are fewer young people living there. This can affect farming and other local businesses. In addition, some villages may lose important services because there are not enough people to use them.

In conclusion, people mainly move to cities because of better jobs, education and facilities. This movement can cause overcrowding and other problems in cities, while rural areas can lose workers and young people. Government can improve jobs and facilities in the countryside to reduce this problem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response is well-structured and covers the main aspects of the prompt by discussing the reasons for rural-to-urban migration and its effects on both areas. However, your introduction is slightly contradictory because the prompt asks whether this is a positive or negative development, but you state that you will discuss 'the reasons for this situation and its effects' rather than taking a clear positive or negative stance. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains 239 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas and requires a downward adjustment in your task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Your essay demonstrates a clear overall progression. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and effects respectively, and a conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices effectively, such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', 'On the other hand', 'As a result', and 'In addition'. While these transitions are somewhat mechanical and characteristic of lower bands, they do ensure that the essay is coherent and easy to follow. Paragraphing is also used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as causes in the second paragraph and effects in the third.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The lexical resource used in this essay is adequate for the task. You successfully employ topic-specific vocabulary related to urbanisation and rural life, such as 'job opportunities', 'hospitals, schools, universities', 'transport', 'overcrowding', 'pollution', and 'farming'. However, the vocabulary is generally simple and lacks flexibility or less common lexical items. For instance, phrases like 'better facilities', 'many people', and 'bad problems' are repeated. There are no major spelling or word-choice errors that impede communication, but the range remains somewhat limited.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures appropriately (e.g., 'Young people especially move to cities because they want to get a good education', 'When many people move to cities, the population becomes very high'). Grammatical accuracy is generally high, with the majority of your sentences being error-free. Punctuation is used correctly throughout the text, and verb tenses are consistent. The occasional minor slips do not impede communication at all, reflecting a solid command of basic and moderately complex structures.

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

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