Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Globally, many individuals are increasingly shifting from rural areas to cities in search of better lifestyles, due to which the number of people in such areas is decreasing rapidly. Although, moving to developed cities offers more employment opportunities and modern lifestyles, it also poses threats to environment and accommodation. From my perspective, negative results of this development far outweigh its positive consequences.

In many regions of the world, a huge number of the suburban residents move to big cities to find better employment opportunities. This development has raised concerns about their accommodation and polluted the environment at a significant rate. For instance, a large number of high-rise apartments have been built in various areas of the cities to support such a big number of people, as a result of which construction work is rising day by day. Subsequently, fuel consumption and carbon-footprint have been increasing constantly. Therefore, building large residential blocks for the rural people in big cities has spoiled the air quality to a great extent.

Despite these drawbacks, some people still believe that living in industrial cities of the country would improve their living. This is due to the fact that in villages, people often suffer due to unemployment issues, as they are not given enough facilities in villages. For example, many statistics show that poverty level is rising every moment in countryside areas, as Toba Tek Singh in Pakistan is facing such difficulties. Therefore, people think that going to developed areas is crucial for improving their life styles. However, if national schemes pay special attention to such problems in villages, situation can be improved a lot.

All in all, in spite of improving the career prospects, moving to big cities not only threatens the environment but also results in the decreased amount of houses for residents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the rural-to-urban migration trend and clearly stating a position that the negative consequences outweigh the positive ones. The writer explores both employment opportunities and negative impacts on accommodation and the environment. Ideas are generally well supported with examples, such as mentioning high-rise apartments and the situation in Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan. However, some arguments could be extended further to achieve a higher band, particularly regarding the balance between economic drivers and urban stress. The overall response is fully relevant, stays on topic throughout, and satisfies all requirements of Task Response for Band 6.5 to 7.0, ultimately fitting comfortably into Band 6.0 due to some under-development in body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Although, moving to developed cities...', 'For instance, a large number...', and 'Despite these drawbacks...'. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive ('This development has raised...', 'This is due to the fact that...'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, including the introduction, environmental drawbacks, socioeconomic causes, and conclusion. While the logical progression is generally maintained throughout, the overuse of standard transitional formulas prevents the essay from reaching higher coherence bands.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'suburban residents', 'carbon-footprint', 'career prospects', and 'unemployment issues'. There are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, for instance, writing 'decreased amount of houses' instead of 'decreased number of houses' or 'poverty level is rising every moment'. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication. The lexical range is sufficient to allow the writer to convey their ideas with reasonable precision, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as in sentences beginning with 'Although, moving to developed cities...' and '...as they are not given enough facilities in villages.' There are some recurring grammatical errors and punctuation issues, including unnecessary commas (e.g., after 'Although' and 'All in all') and minor preposition or article slips (e.g., 'threats to environment' instead of 'threats to the environment'). However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the majority of simple sentences remain accurate while complex structures show developing control, fitting the Band 6.0 profile.

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

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