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)

Rural peaople usually move towards cities for better opportunities in employment, lifestyle and education. The lifestyle and development in rural area is very low as compared to cities. This is causing less population in rural areas and more population in cities. That's why there are bustling crowds in cities. These all are leading to more population in ccities as well. There should be more development in the rural areas like small towns, villages, etc so there would be equal distribution of population in all areas.

The biggest example is my city, Lahore. Lahore is a one of the major cities in Pakistan. There is large population which came from rural side. In nomal days, Lahore is very populated but during weekend or any national holiday, city gets quiter and less populated as people from rural areas go back to their home towns for occassions.

To resolve this issues, there should be more development in rural areas. Education and employment opportunities should be increased for rural people. When people from rural areas move towards cities it not only makes more competition in cities but reduces population in village and slowly less youth is available in villages. Skilled youth should be available in rural side for its development as well. Cities and rural areas should be developed equally for equal distribution of population and resources. The resources of city are als consumed by rural peaople.

Serious steps and develpment should be taken under consideration by government. More developments should be made for equal rights.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the movement of rural people to cities and presenting a clear viewpoint that it is a negative development due to overpopulation and lack of rural infrastructure. The writer presents a clear position throughout the essay and supports it with a personal example from Lahore. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly in the later paragraphs where points regarding rural development and equal distribution are restated without adding significant new depth. The arguments lack extension and tend to over-generalise. Consequently, the response aligns best with the Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors, meeting the requirements of a Band 6.0 for addressing all parts of the task with relevant, if slightly under-developed, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical path of progression from discussing the causes of migration to providing an example and concluding with solutions. Paragraphing is attempted, though the first paragraph is quite dense and the body paragraphs are relatively short and fragmented. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes in a repetitive or mechanical manner, such as 'That's why' and 'To resolve this issues'. Referencing is generally clear, but transitional links between sentences occasionally feel abrupt. These features place the response firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range, warranting a Band 6.0 for maintaining an overall coherent structure despite mechanical cohesion and basic paragraphing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'employment opportunities', 'equal distribution', and 'competition'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'peaople', 'nomal', 'quiter', 'occassions', 'als', and 'develpment'. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, but these inaccuracies and spelling mistakes slightly impede smooth reading. Furthermore, phrases like 'busy crowds' could be more precisely integrated. Because the vocabulary is minimally adequate with frequent minor errors, the writing matches the Band 5.5 descriptors closely, though it satisfies enough of Band 6.0 through communicative success to earn a 5.5 overall.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as 'When people from rural areas move towards cities it not only makes more competition...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement errors like 'The lifestyle and development... is' and article omissions such as 'in rural area' and 'during weekend'. The sentence structure 'Lahore is a one of the major cities' contains a redundant article. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they persist across both simple and complex structures. This profile corresponds well to the Band 5.5 descriptors, where frequent errors in grammar and punctuation can cause occasional difficulty.

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