Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-03

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)

In the modern day world, everyone want to move to the city from rural areas for better opportunities and better lifestyle which is causing a decrease in rural areas population.

overall, people from rural areas are moving to big cities in search of beter jobs, education, health and much more. I think it is a negative development and can somehow has a negative impact on the country.

People from rural areas move to the city in search of better education, better job opportunities and better health and treatment. The question is why rural areas lack better education, better health care and better jobs? most of the people in rural areas earns a very little as compared to the people in cities. Most people in rural areas are farmers and if the majority of the rural population moves to the cities , it can cause the shortage of farmers which effect the country's economy badly. All of the cooking items comes from the rural areas like wheat, rice, barley, corn, fruits and vegetable , yet there no development compared to the cities.

This movement from rural to city can cause over population in the city on a very big scale. Which means there will be less job opportunities, expensive education and health care . Over population can cause the hospitals, bus stands, railways stations to over crowd. For example, in India, the trains are so over filled with pessengers that you can't even breath in there. Hundreds and thousands of degree holders are jobless and doing labour due to hunger.

Due to over population, prices can skyrocket in any city because of the difference in demand and consumer ratio.

In the conclusion, it is the government's duty to increase the developmet in the rura areas as well and create better insfrastructure, better education and better health care to avoid these type of crises.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear position that the rural-to-urban shift is a negative development. Relevant ideas are presented, such as the shortage of farmers affecting the economy and the risk of city overpopulation. However, some of these ideas are under-developed or lack full extension. For instance, the point regarding the shortage of agricultural workers and its economic consequence is introduced but not thoroughly explained with deeper analysis. Similarly, the example of Indian trains being overcrowded is somewhat generalized. To reach a higher band, the ideas would need more comprehensive elaboration and deeper supporting examples throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. However, the progression is sometimes hindered by mechanical or faulty cohesion. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas is occasionally disjointed, such as the sudden shift into a new paragraph for the brief summary statement. Referencing is also not always clear, and cohesive devices are sometimes repetitive or basic. To improve, the writer should ensure that every paragraph flows logically into the next with smoother transitional phrases and clearer referencing between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the main points regarding urban migration and overpopulation. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'skyrocket' and 'infrastructure', but these are accompanied by noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'beter', 'earns a very little', 'insfrastructure', and 'developmet'. Additionally, there are collocation slips like 'cooking items' instead of 'food crops' or 'agricultural produce'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the range and precision needed to achieve a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple forms and frequently faulty attempts at complex sentences. There are some errors in grammar, verb forms, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'everyone want', 'can somehow has', 'there no development', and 'effect' instead of 'affect'. Punctuation and article usage also show frequent inaccuracies, such as missing articles before singular nouns ('in city', 'to city') and unneeded capitalization. These errors occur consistently throughout the text, placing the grammar at this level.

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.