Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-04

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)

In recent times, rural communities are tending to migrate to cities for better opportunities for education, employment, medical benefits, and so on. Although living in a city provides with all kinds of amenity that a resident needs, I strongly believe that decreasing population in countryside is a negative issue which impact significantly on the population growth of city areas.

First and foremost, people are migrating to economic hubs for their better lifestyle. For example, a city offers with better education for children, ensure proper medical treatment, or various job opportunities that a rural area cannot provide. As a result, villages are staying undeveloped and having lack of manpower who could lead to the improvement of its' infrastructure and productivity. For example, agriculture sector stays less productive for the lack of people who have interest in this sector. Thus, people of rural areas cannot improve their lifestyle being in those areas.

On the other hand, cities are having rapid population growth day by day due to the tendency of this migration. As a result, environment pollution, traffic jam, etc. are increasing which are resulting the cities unusable for the residents. In addition, to accommodate this huge population, cities are occupied by more buildings and lacking of open green spaces for the relaxation of the community. Consequently, individuals are suffering from various physical diseases such as obesity, as well as psychological diseases such as depression.

In conclusion, large cities provide with better amenities to make people more civilized, but it make residents suffer in the long run about their overall health condition. Therefore, Individuals' tendency of moving from villages to large cities is a negative development which affects negatively on both rural and urban communities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, presenting a clear position that rural depopulation is a negative development. The ideas presented are generally relevant, covering economic hubs, lifestyle factors, and urban congestion. However, some ideas are under-developed rather than fully extended. For instance, the discussion on how the agricultural sector suffers from a lack of manpower is introduced with an example, but the argument could be pushed further to explore broader economic consequences. Similarly, the points regarding urban strain lack specific elaboration. The response easily meets the requirements for the middle band while showing some elements of fully exploring the prompt, though more consistent support throughout would be needed for the next level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, each focusing on a distinct aspect of the topic. The writer uses standard cohesive devices to link ideas, such as 'First and foremost', 'For example', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally mechanical or slightly faulty, as seen in the phrasing 'due to the tendency of this migration' or 'impact significantly on', where transitions could flow more naturally. Paragraph progression is logical, moving from the causes and impacts on rural areas to the consequences for cities, and finally to a concluding summary, fulfilling the expectations for this band level.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the writer's arguments about migration and urbanization. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'infrastructure', 'productivity', and 'psychological diseases', showing an awareness of topic-related terminology. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'environment pollution' instead of 'environmental pollution', and 'traffic jam' instead of 'traffic congestion'. These lexical slips do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments clearly, which places the lexical control firmly in the intermediate category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'Although living in a city provides with all kinds of amenity...' and 'As a result, environment pollution... are increasing'. There are some noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with verb patterns, prepositions, and pluralisation, such as 'provides with', 'decrease population in countryside' missing an article, 'its'' with an incorrect apostrophe placement, and subject-verb agreement issues like 'pollution... are increasing'. However, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains recoverable throughout, reflecting the specific control and error frequency typical of this grammar band.

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