Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-19

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)

While some advocate that cities offer better lifestyle, as they provide modern facilities so that migrating to the cities is a common parctice for the rural people, I strongly believe that this trend is a negative development. In my point of view, this practice is not only decrease the population in countryside, but also creates severe infrastructural strain, environmental degradation, housing shortage in the citites and several impacts detrimetal effect in the rural, such as labour shortage for cultivation, which ultimately causes significant economic downfall.

First and foremost, there are several reasons to hold this view. Firstly, in cities, this rapid demographic shift causes severe infrastructural strain problems. Housing shortage is one of them. Moreover, when more individuals come to live in the cities for better lifestyle or opportunities, the government need to build more housing apartments by cleaning the natural areas, causing a significant natural strain. People mainly migrate to the cities for better employment and career opportunities, but this migrating tendency will create severe job shortages in the future. To counter this problem, the lawmakers might need to invest more on industries or transportation, which ultimately increases the amount of carbon footprint. So, I believe, in future, cities will face more problems related to the overpopulation.

Furthermore, in countrysides, villages will also face some severe problems related to the migration tendency. One possible problem would be the shortages of manpower, especially for the cultivation. When youngers prefer to move cities to have a better life, there will be less people for producing farming products, which ultimately creates severe economic downfall for the rural economy, as well as the national economy.

To mitigate this problem, governments might need to plan accordingly before development. Putting all facilities in the cities will make urban areas more congested, rather than they should also need to focus on rural developments. This might discourage rural people to move towards the cities.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that while people moving closer to the cities for better lifestyle and overall well-being, this tendency will create severe problems, not only for the cities, but also for the coutrysides. To counter this problem, the government should find viable solution, and strike a balance between the urban and the rural developments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate presents a clear position throughout the response, arguing strongly that rural-to-urban migration is a negative development. All parts of the task are addressed, identifying consequences such as infrastructural strain and rural labour shortages. Ideas are generally well supported, though some points are slightly repetitive or over-generalised, as seen in the discussion on housing shortages and employment. While the arguments are relevant and extended, deeper exploration of alternative viewpoints would enhance the development, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range. Overall, the prompt is fully satisfied in terms of taking a stance and exploring consequences for both urban and rural areas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and overall progression. Paragraphing is utilised adequately to separate the introduction, body paragraphs focusing on different impacts, solutions, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'To mitigate this problem', though some referencing is occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive. Paragraphs have clear central topics, contributing to an overall coherent arrangement. However, minor flaws in logical linking prevent it from reaching the highest bands. Overall, the structural progression is easy to follow, supporting the clarity of the student's arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'demographic shift', 'infrastructural strain', 'environmental degradation', and 'economic downfall'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'parctice' instead of 'practice', 'detrimetal effect in the rural' instead of 'detrimental effects in rural areas', and 'farming products' instead of 'agricultural produce'. Spelling errors like 'coutrysides' and 'citites' also appear. While communication is never impeded, these inaccuracies restrict the lexical score, showing an acceptable yet flawed command of vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as 'While some advocate that cities offer better lifestyle, as they provide modern facilities...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'this practice is not only decrease' (should be 'decreases'), 'the government need' (should be 'needs'), and 'less people' (should be 'fewer people'). Punctuation and word form errors also recur. These mistakes require some effort from the reader to untangle, placing the grammatical performance firmly at a Band 6.0 level.

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