Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-27

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)

In recent years, the trend to migration from rural areas to cities is accelerating. A huge number of individuals are leaving their villages to live in urban areas, due to which the rural population is declining. In this essay, I will explain why this is a negative development with reasons in favor of my opinion.

To begin with, one major drawback of receding population in the countryside is that there will be very few or limited educated individuals in the near future, as many professionals move to bigger cities for improved job opportunities. It is significant because the small towns will become deprived of doctors, pharmacist, lawyers, and other professionals, so they have to travel to cities for these facilities. As a result, communities will suffer because of limited resources and skilled persons.

Another downside is that the big states will become densely populated. It can be attributed to the fact that mass movement towards rural areas will lead to surge in pollution because of the increased fuel consumption associated with an incline in personal vehicles. For instance, poor air quality of Lahore caused by smoke released from numerous motorbikes and cars.

On the other hand, some people think that it is reasonable to move out of villages for better living standards. By this they mean that people should move to places where they have improved career choices and facilities. One example is if a nutritionist from a small town is willing to get more exposure and experience in the field, they have to change their location, and move to a better place in terms of job options.

Although relocating to bigger states have some merits; however, from my perspective, the disadvantages of reduced population in urban regions are far more such as, of risk of lesser professionals, and more pollution in major cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position that the migration from rural areas to cities is a negative development. The writer provides relevant ideas, such as the shortage of professionals in small towns and increased pollution in densely populated cities, as well as a counter-argument discussing better living standards. However, some ideas could be extended further. For instance, the discussion on professionals lacks deeper exploration into the long-term socioeconomic impacts on rural communities. Nevertheless, the position remains clear throughout the essay, and the main arguments are adequately supported with examples like the air quality in Lahore, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs supporting the main stance, a concession paragraph, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as rural disadvantages versus urban overcrowding. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, as seen with phrases like 'To begin with', 'Another downside is', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, such as the awkward transition in the final sentence ('such as, of risk of lesser professionals'). Overall, the logical structure meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'accelerating', 'deprived', 'densely populated', and 'socioeconomic' contexts. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing, such as 'the trend to migration' instead of 'the trend of migration', 'receding population' instead of 'declining population', and 'pharmacist' instead of 'pharmacists'. Additionally, 'big states' is used inaccurately to refer to big cities. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect the limitations typical of a Band 6.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well. There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'due to which the rural population is declining' (awkward relative clause usage), 'so they have to travel' lacking a clear antecedent connection, and 'mass movement towards rural areas' in the third paragraph, which contradicts the premise of moving to cities. Furthermore, punctuation and phrasing errors appear, such as the fragmented structure in the final sentence ('such as, of risk of'). These errors rarely impede overall communication, placing the grammar securely at Band 6.0.

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

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