Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-08

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 often argued that in many nations across the world, villagers are shifting towards cities, so the popolation in the village is declining. While this trend may bring certain benefits, I believe that it is largely a positive development because in cities the lifestyle of people are better than in countryside and secondly, the academic opportunties are far better than the village.

One major advantage of this development is that people will get more jobs in the urban area and individuals will enhance their lifestyle. This is maily because people will shift from rural area to the urban area for bright future, than they will work hard and earn money. For instance, person shifted from village to city for better life, after that he worked hard earn money and enhance his living of style. As result, he had his own car, own house and a happy family. Therefore, it is clear that movuing to city from the rural area is a postive development.

Another significant factor to consider is that the academic opprtunites are best than the village schooling system. In other words, in the rural area schools, colleges and universities are outdated in comparison, the academic system is updated the classrooms and campus are better and spacious. A good exmaple of this can be seen in the city academic system is compared to the internatinal schooling system. As result, the students studying in best envoirnment will get more knowledge easily and perfom best in academic area. This demostrates that moving to cities for studies is the positive development.

In conclusion, altough the negative aspects are also there there like population will increase in cities and traffic issues will be main facter. Another factor is that there will be pollution from the traffic and the health issues will occur. I believe that the lifestyle and academic development is a postive development overall, This is because the better lifestyle in the cities and the betyter academ

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-urban migration largely positive, and you give two relevant reasons—employment and lifestyle, followed by educational opportunities. The examples of earning enough to own a car and house, and of better-equipped urban schools, help illustrate these points. You also acknowledge disadvantages such as traffic, pollution and health problems, so the response addresses both the question and the opposing side. However, some support is general or unclear: the personal-style example is hypothetical, and the comparison between rural and city education is asserted rather than demonstrated. Develop one example with a specific, plausible detail and explain more directly how the benefits outweigh the costs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs organised around separate benefits, and a conclusion that acknowledges drawbacks. Linking phrases such as “One major advantage,” “Another significant factor,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “This is mainly because… than they will work hard” does not express the relationship between migration and improved prospects clearly, while “As result” is repeated. The conclusion also begins with several disadvantages but does not clearly connect them to the final judgement, and it ends mid-sentence. Use clearer cause-and-effect links, vary transitions, and ensure the final paragraph completes and reinforces your argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “urban area,” “academic opportunities,” “outdated,” “spacious,” and “pollution,” which allows you to discuss migration, education and city life. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices, collocations and spelling errors make parts of the response difficult to read. Examples include “living of style,” “academic system is updated the classrooms,” “best environment,” and repeated misspellings such as “opprtunites” and “postive.” Some phrases also sound unnatural, including “person shifted from village to city for better life.” Build a bank of accurate collocations for employment, education and urban services, and proofread spelling and word forms. More precise vocabulary would make your examples clearer and more convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in the introduction (“While this trend may bring certain benefits”) and a relative clause (“students studying in best environment”). The main ideas are generally understandable, but some sentence structures and agreement patterns are inaccurate. For example, “the lifestyle of people are better” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “people will shift… for bright future, than they will work hard” joins ideas in an unclear grammatical structure. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “person shifted from village” and the long sentence beginning “In the rural area schools.” The conclusion contains a run-on and an unfinished final sentence. Practise building complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and check agreement, articles and punctuation.

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