Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
In many parts of the world countryside people are moving to big towns therefore the population of countryside is declined before giving my opinion we will discuss about both positive and negative view from my perspective i would say it is a Positive Development
There are Several reasons of people who moved from countryside to cities but the major one is that those people who used to do farming now they have opportunities to be self employe or being a employe it can also help them to earn more as compared to previously they used to earn from farming and therefor it can help government too like people has to pay Slight more tax so it can help in country GDP as well therefore we can say that it is a positive way of development
On the other side there are several negative points to people who used to do farming now gets employment at any company or became self employe now they are not going to do farming therefore in that way we can say that it is a negative point as well people had to pay less amount of expenditure now in big cities they have to pay quite amount expenditure so in that perspective it a negative point too
In my Conclusion I would say people are moving from countryside to big cities has both positive and negative effects some got employment some became self employe some people earned more than their previous time but on the other hand their expenditure rent and other things get enlarged as well
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of rural depopulation and clearly states a personal position in the introduction, identifying it as a positive development. However, the development of ideas remains superficial. For instance, the economic benefits are mentioned generally through taxation and GDP without supporting examples. Similarly, the negative points regarding increased living expenses and the loss of farming labor are introduced but remain under-developed. Because the student covers all parts of the task with a clear stance but lacks full extension and support, this performance aligns well with Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is divided into four paragraphs, following a standard argumentative structure. However, the overall progression is hindered by a complete lack of punctuation, run-on sentences, and basic transitions. The text relies heavily on repetitive conjunctions like "and therefore" or "now gets employment at any company or became self employe now they are not going to do farming" without proper sentence boundaries. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is faulty due to poor sentence structuring and inadequate cohesive devices, which places this aspect of the writing at Band 4.5, rounded to 5.0 based on general organization.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive throughout the essay. The student frequently recycles terms like "countryside", "people", "farming", and "self employe". There are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as "decline" used instead of "declining", and "quite amount expenditure" rather than "a significant amount of expenditure". While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic argument, the limited range and frequent inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Therefore, this fulfills the criteria for Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The grammatical range is extremely limited, primarily because the entire essay consists of just a few run-on sentences entirely devoid of periods or commas. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ("population of countryside is declined"), missing articles, and faulty clause structures. The absence of punctuation means there are virtually no error-free sentences, and the frequent structural flaws occasionally cause difficulty for the reader in tracking the argument. These features are characteristic of a Band 4 grammatical performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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