Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-02

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 6.0)

Over the years a great debate has started weither the impact of urbanization is positive or negative. I agree that urbanization has done more harm in the recent years than good thus affecting both rural life and urban life.

Many people from rural areas migrate towards big cities in hopes of better education, job oppurtinities and overall for a better quality life, but as time progresses and populations grow urban life has started to become much more of a hassel rather than a relief. A great number of population means that there should be adaquate housing for the population, but since cities are not always so big they can easily become over crowded. This forces people to share minimal spaces with other people in hopes of trying to satisfy this increasing demand for shelter. A great example of overpopulated housing is the chongqing municipality in china where people live in such a densily populated area where sometimes even sunlight cannot reach certain floors due to its astonishing height and size.

Another reason why i believe that this boom of population in cities is negative is due to inflation caused by this. As the population increases the demand for their needs also increases hence leading to an overall increase in spenditure which can make life almost impossible for middle class or lower middle class people living in cities. Due to the rural migration into urban cities a significant decline has been happening agriculture. Most of the people in the countryside abandon agriculture in the rural area to go into cities on the hunt for jobs, education or just to meet their moneitary needs. This in turns impacts the amount of people working in agriculture. Agriculture is not only important for the socio-economic sucess of a country but also is essential for the people and a decrease in agriculture can lead to food and reasource shortages.

In conclusion, i think that the people in rural areas should be provided the facilities they need such as proper education and well paying jobs so they dont feel the need to leave their homes. This would not only solve the population issue due to urbanization but can also help develop the rural areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by clearly presenting a position that the movement of rural people to cities is a negative development. The writer identifies multiple key consequences, such as urban overcrowding and the decline of agriculture. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; for instance, while the housing issue is supported with a specific example of the Chongqing municipality, the point about inflation is introduced rapidly and lacks detailed extension. To reach a higher band, all main ideas would need to be equally well-supported and explored with greater depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance stated in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct arguments, such as housing pressures and agricultural decline. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, with transitional links like 'In turns' and referencing that occasionally lacks smooth progression. To improve, the writer could employ a wider range of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure tighter logical bridges between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate main ideas about urban migration and its impacts. There are attempts to use less common items and subject-specific vocabulary, such as 'urbanization' and 'socio-economic success'. However, there are notable spelling errors and word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'weither', 'oppurtinities', 'hassel', 'adaquate', 'densily', 'spenditure', and 'moneitary'. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to this level, as greater precision and accuracy are required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and relative clauses. There are some grammatical errors in articles, prepositions, and punctuation—such as lowercase capitalization for 'i' and missing commas—as well as minor subject-verb agreement slips. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To achieve a higher band, the writer would need to produce a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise tighter control over punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.