Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-30

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 4.5)

Around the world in many countries, people living in rural areas are migrating to cities because of which number of people living in rural areas are decreasing day by day. In my opinion, this development has both the positive and negative aspects. Positive trend is that, they are receiving basic as well as advance facilities there, but it also results in underdevelopment of rural areas.

Firstly, people living in small towns are travlling

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response falls significantly short of the 250-word minimum, containing only 73 words. Due to this severe under-length, the task cannot be fully addressed. The student attempts to introduce a position by stating that the development has both positive and negative aspects, mentioning access to facilities in cities and rural underdevelopment. However, because the text stops abruptly in the second paragraph ('Firstly, people living in small towns are travlling'), the ideas are barely formed and remain heavily under-developed. In accordance with the assessment criteria for severely under-length scripts, this heavily limits the task achievement score to Band 4.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is too brief to demonstrate full paragraphing and cohesive progression, breaking off mid-sentence in the second paragraph. However, the introductory sentences show a basic attempt to logically connect ideas using transition signals such as 'In my opinion' and 'Firstly'. Referencing is generally clear within the limited text produced, using pronouns like 'they' to refer back to rural people. Because the text is cut short before a proper structure can be established, the overall organization cannot be fully evaluated, warranting a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, featuring phrases such as 'rural areas', 'cities', and 'basic as well as advance facilities'. There is an attempt to use less common vocabulary like 'migration', 'underdevelopment', and 'facilities', but the range remains limited due to the shortness of the text. There is also a spelling error ('travlling' instead of 'travelling'). The lexical resource is minimally adequate for the few sentences written, earning a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Around the world in many countries, people living in rural areas are migrating to cities because of which number of people living in rural areas are decreasing day by day.' This sentence contains grammatical inaccuracies, notably missing articles ('the' number of people) and awkward phrasing ('because of which'). Another error appears in the unfinished sentence with a spelling mistake ('travlling'). Given the extremely limited output and the frequency of errors within the few sentences provided, a Band 4.0 is appropriate.

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

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