Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Despite progressing rapidly to generate resources to make life suitable in towns, the majority of residents of villages in many countries around the world are moving to cities, which results in a significant decline in the population of the countryside. From my perspective, it's not a positive development, as it will place additional pressure on the resources of urban areas and can be a source of various socio-economic issues.

One of the major drawbacks of this issue is that migration towards cities can be a source of a shortage of food resources, as it can raise the level of food requirement of that particular urban area. For instance, nowadays, many cities of developing countries have experienced a sharp decline in the availability of food, as the majority of their residents from countryside are moving towards cities. Therefore, it is widely considered a potential risk to the resources of cities.

Another disadvantage of this is that it can be a cause of various societal concerns including an increase rapid increase in the level of traffic congestion and workplace issues. Asa greater number of people are moving toward cities this will increase the traffic congestion levels and their arrival may create a need for more job vacancies to fulfil their needs and demands. A clear illustration of this is provided by various big cities of many developing countries that migrated their residents from towns to cities; consequently, they face heavier traffic during peak hours, while they are going for a job or elsewhere.

To conclude, movement of many people towards cities will have considerable drawbacks as it can place additional pressure on the availability of food as per the need of that city and also cause various socio-economic issues like traffic congestion and workplace

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position that the movement of rural people to cities is a negative development. The main ideas, such as pressure on urban resources, food scarcity, and traffic congestion, are directly relevant to the prompt. However, some arguments lack deep development and contain logical flaws. For instance, the claim that rural-to-urban migration causes a shortage of food because cities require more food resources is somewhat under-developed and relies on generalization rather than solid substantiation. Similarly, the conclusion is cut off mid-sentence ('workplace'). Despite these minor issues, a clear overall position is maintained throughout, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptors well.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a concluding sentence. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as food resources in the second paragraph and societal concerns like traffic in the third. Cohesive devices are employed, including 'For instance,' 'Another disadvantage,' and 'To conclude.' However, some referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, and the conclusion cuts off abruptly at the end. Additionally, phrasing like 'Asa greater number of people' (spacing error) and awkward transitions show room for improvement in logical flow, placing the response solidly in Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'socio-economic issues,' 'traffic congestion,' 'developing countries,' and 'availability.' There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes accompanied by inaccuracies or awkward collocations, such as 'generate resources to make life suitable' and 'migrated their residents from towns to cities' (where 'relocated' or 'migrated from' would be more precise). Spelling and word-choice errors do not impede overall communication, but they prevent the writing from achieving a higher band, making Band 6.0 an appropriate score.

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 (e.g., 'which results in a significant decline,' 'as the majority of their residents from countryside are moving towards cities'). However, there are noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout, such as missing articles ('from countryside'), run-on constructions, and punctuation errors. Furthermore, the final sentence is incomplete, stopping abruptly at 'workplace.' While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the grammar score from reaching Band 6.5, thus earning a Band 6.0.

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