Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

People living in rural areas are shifting towards cities in many countries around the world due to which the trend of population is declining in the countryside. It can be both a positive or a negative development depending on personal preferences, however moving into a developed region is a positive approach in my opinion due to wide range of facilities and comfortable lifestyle.

People who seek for better living opportunities find an obstacle to live in rural areas as there are limited resources and few basic necessities while a city side comprises of versatile options related to needs and wants. For instance, educated people travel all the way from their village daily to arrive at their workplace located in the town bacause of advanced salary packages and options for career development. Furthermore, other services such as supermarkets, aesthetics, shopping malls, hospitals, and universities, hence everything either its a basic necessity or a luxury commodity exists in the city life.

In contrast to this, the urban lifestyle holds differences in terms of nature and its purity of the environment. For example, a limited number of trees or greenery can be sighted, as the huge building are constructed with no left space. Additionally, a large proportion of harmful gases particularly the emission of carbon dioxide from vehicles surrounds the atmosphere of city side, hence causes detrimental effects to human health and is the major reason for increasing global warming.

While the people moving towards urban societies view their own benefits and drawbacks, i personally believe it as a positive trend because this movement is a step towards a good living standard.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the rural-to-urban shift and clearly stating a position that it is a positive development. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as reference to advanced salary packages, supermarkets, hospitals, and environmental drawbacks like carbon dioxide emissions. The writer maintains a clear position throughout the essay, developing arguments around lifestyle benefits and urban opportunities. However, some supporting ideas remain slightly generalised or lack deeper elaboration, placing the response solidly at Band 6.5 or 7. Descriptors for Band 7 are met as all parts are addressed with a clear position, though minor over-generalisations occur. Therefore, an appropriate band score is awarded based on these solid developmental qualities.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are structured into coherent paragraphs with distinct focuses, shifting smoothly from the introduction to benefits in the second paragraph, environmental drawbacks in the third, and a concluding stance in the final paragraph. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In contrast to this', and 'Additionally' are used effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is managed sufficiently and appropriately, ensuring each main idea has its own dedicated space. While some transitional phrasing could be more sophisticated to reach higher bands, the overall logical flow and manageable cohesion earn a solid band score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, such as 'versatile options', 'career development', 'detrimental effects', and 'global warming'. Less common items are attempted with varying degrees of success, though there are minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as writing 'aesthetics' when referring to stores or services, and 'bacause' due to a spelling slip. Additionally, phrases like 'city side' are slightly unnatural compared to 'urban areas' or 'cities'. Nevertheless, the vocabulary is adequate to convey meaning clearly and demonstrates an attempt to use a wider, more academic lexicon.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional-like framing ('People who seek for better living opportunities find an obstacle...'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'shift towards cities in many countries... due to which the trend of population is declining' and 'hospitals, and universities, hence everything either its a basic necessity or a luxury commodity exists'. Punctuation and minor subject-verb agreement issues also appear occasionally. However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the writer demonstrates good control over the majority of basic sentence forms while successfully attempting complex structures.

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