Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-29

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 the statusquo the migration from the rural areas to the urban one is increasing at a fast rate. People looking for employment, better living conditions, education and much more are leaving their houses in the rural land and coming to cities hoping for a better lifestyle.

I believe that this is a negative development as in the urban cities population is increasing but the development is not at par to keep up with the immigration.

The rapid immigration is resulting in loss of employment for the people already living there and is a disadvantage for that population as the number of jobs is less than the number of people in search of employment. Many immigrants do not live the life they hoped for as the demand for the houses and other living areas increases and the government is not always ready to handle this much immigration. When people leave the rural areas, the development happening at that area decreases as the population is very less but when the population in the rural area increases, the government and private companies tend to invest in these areas as these areas have many natural resources and more space comapred to urban areas and this investment consequently results in proper development and job oppurtunities. All of this keeps the population per area steady which allows both the people in urban and rural areas to have a proper lifestyle and not live in a congested place.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that rural-to-urban migration is a negative development. The writer discusses relevant ideas such as unemployment in cities, housing shortages, and the impact of depopulation on rural areas. However, the task achievement is constrained because the response falls below the required 250-word minimum, containing only 242 words. Furthermore, the ideas are somewhat condensed into a single massive paragraph, preventing full extension and robust development of the arguments. While the position is understandable, the lack of sufficient length and underdeveloped paragraphs mean the response aligns best with Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay lacks adequate paragraphing, presenting almost the entire response as a single, lengthy block of text. This severely impacts the overall structure and logical progression. Although cohesive devices such as 'when', 'and', and 'consequently' are used to link clauses within sentences, the lack of clear paragraph breaks makes it difficult for the reader to follow the transition between distinct ideas, such as the shift from urban problems to rural issues. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the absence of clear structural division places this aspect of the writing firmly at Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'immigration', 'development', 'natural resources', and 'congested'. However, there are noticeable word-form and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'statusquo' (status quo), 'urban cities' (redundancy), 'comapred' (compared), and 'oppurtunities' (opportunities). Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success, and the range remains somewhat limited. These frequent minor errors and the limited flexibility in phrasing place the lexical resource at a Band 5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting longer structures such as 'When people leave the rural areas, the development happening at that area decreases as the population is very less...'. However, these complex sentences often become run-on structures or contain punctuation and grammatical inaccuracies. There are issues with article usage ('the urban cities', 'the rural land') and prepositions. While meaning is generally recoverable despite the frequent errors, the lack of secure control over complex sentence patterns points to a Band 5 score.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.