Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities for their better lifestyle . Which some percent is good and some percent is a abad thing . When everyone is moving to the city . The countryside become empty . The land of rural areas are occupied for the cities. The cities become very much crowded . The rural area becomes distinct . The most of the diary products are corm for rural areas . The production of diary products decreases . Which is not a good thing . The expenses of the people also increases . Therefore, people have to face poverty which is very bad thing . Countryside give many important things to live . Without which we can't live . Everyone want to live better life . This is negative development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by discussing the negative impacts of rural-to-urban migration, such as overcrowding, decreased agricultural production, and increased poverty. A position is stated at the very end ('This is negative development'). However, the response falls severely short of the minimum length requirement, containing only 137 words compared to the required 250 words. Because of this, the ideas are heavily underdeveloped, repetitive, and lack sufficient extension and concrete examples. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, earning a band score of 4.0 under the task achievement descriptor for minimal response and underdeveloped ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as a single dense block of text, which severely hinders the overall visual and structural progression. While basic cohesive devices and transition words are attempted, such as 'Therefore' and 'When', their application is often repetitive and mechanically executed. The logical flow between sentences is disjointed, and the lack of clear referencing makes it difficult to follow the development of ideas. These organizational flaws align closely with the band 4 descriptor, where information and ideas are not arranged in a coherent manner.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is basic, repetitive, and heavily restricted. The student frequently misuses words or relies on incorrect collocations, such as 'distinct' instead of 'extinct' or 'depopulated', and 'corm' instead of 'come'. Phrases like 'bad thing' and 'better life' are repeated throughout the text without variation. These lexical limitations and frequent word-choice errors frequently strain the reader's understanding and match the characteristics of band 4, where vocabulary is basic and repetitive, causing noticeable difficulty.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The text displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting predominantly of simple sentences that are frequently punctuated incorrectly as independent fragments (e.g., 'Which some percent is good and some percent is a abad thing.'). There are frequent errors in basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'The land of rural areas are occupied' and 'The most of the diary products'. These persistent errors and the lack of complex sentence control heavily restrict the grammar, fitting the band 4 descriptor where errors are frequent and often distort meaning.

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

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