Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-01

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)

It is considered that in various countries around the globe the movement of rural people to cities is causing population to decrease in the countryside. I partially agree to this view because migration of people can have both the positive and negative aspects.

In one hand, the peoples allocation to the city areas can help to have the better opportunities and standard of living. For instance, an ill individual can have the medical treatment within a hospital with advanced technology which is not possible in countryside. Similarly, the contryside people can fulfuil the growing demand of corporate labours which meets the demand of labour industry.

In another hand, due to the migration the agricultural land are turning into barren and its productivity is decreasing. For example, the shift of people from hilly regions to terai has caused increased forest area of Nepal at around half of its land occupancy. Likewise, due to scare of population the service industry is collapsing and rethinking about the infrastructures development. Such as,schools in hilly regions of Nepal have so low number of students that some are almost at the verged of extinction.

In conclusion, the movement of people from countryside to cities have certain advantages like upliftment of people standard of living and better opportunities along with some disadvantage like barren land increasement and reduction of productivity. I believe the check and balance should be maintained at the countryside to encourage people to reside on the respective areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially, presenting a position that looks at both positive and negative aspects of rural-to-urban migration. While the main ideas are relevant, some are under-developed or lack sufficient extension. For instance, the point regarding better medical treatment and corporate labour demand is introduced but not fully elaborated with deeper analysis. Furthermore, the response falls just short of the minimum length requirement, containing 244 words instead of the required 250, which restricts the depth of the overall discussion. To reach a higher band, the writer must ensure the word count requirement is fully met and extend each supporting point with more thorough explanations and fully articulated examples rather than brief mentions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at a four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the contrasting views. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transitional phrases like 'In one hand' and 'In another hand' are inaccurate collocations for contrast, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun use in the final paragraph. To progress to the next level, the writer should employ a wider and more natural range of cohesive devices, refine transitional phrases for better flow, and ensure that referencing across sentences is consistently precise and logical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate basic arguments about migration, standard of living, and agricultural productivity. The writer attempts less common vocabulary such as 'productivity', 'infrastructure', and 'extinction', but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation, such as 'peoples allocation', 'contryside', 'fulfuil', 'corporate labours', 'barren land increasement', and 'verged'. These lexical errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the score. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to expand their range of vocabulary, improve word formation, and ensure accurate spellings and collocations throughout the essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional-like structures. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Issues include grammatical and prepositional patterns such as 'agree to this view' instead of 'agree with', article omissions and misuse like 'the agricultural land are turning' where plural agreement fails, and awkward phrasing such as 'rethinking about the infrastructures development'. To improve, the writer should focus on strengthening control over subject-verb agreement, article usage, and prepositions within complex grammatical structures, while aiming to produce a higher proportion of error-free sentences.

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