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 task by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of rural-to-urban migration and clearly stating a personal position in the introduction and conclusion. The writer supports their view that this is a positive development by citing relevant examples such as career opportunities, advanced salary packages, and access to comprehensive services like hospitals and universities. Ideas are extended with appropriate reasoning regarding lifestyle and facilities. However, the development could be slightly more rigorous in terms of fully contrasting both sides before cementing the stance. Overall, the prompt is successfully answered and the main arguments are well-supported, aligning well with the criteria for a Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving smoothly from introduction to advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'For instance', 'Furthermore', 'In contrast to this', and 'Additionally'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Nevertheless, occasional awkward referencing and slight mechanical usage of cohesive links keep the response at a Band 6.5. For instance, the transition in the second paragraph 'and universities, hence everything either its a basic necessity' demonstrates slightly faulty clause integration. Overall, the arrangement of ideas is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'versatile options', 'aesthetics', 'luxury commodity', and 'detrimental effects'. There are, however, some noticeable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'seeking for better living opportunities' (instead of 'seeking better living opportunities'), 'bacause' (spelling error), and 'no left space' (unnatural phrasing). Despite these occasional inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning clearly and communicate effectively. The lexical control sits comfortably within the Band 6.0 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting ambitious structures such as relative clauses and conditional nuances, as seen in 'People living in rural areas are shifting towards cities... due to which the trend...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text, including 'due to which the trend of population is declining' and 'hence causes detrimental effects' where subject-verb agreement or clause structures are slightly askew. Additionally, minor slips like lowercase 'i' in the final sentence occur. These errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily grasp the intended meaning, which reflects the characteristics of Band 6.0.

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