Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-09

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)

Nowadays, people in many countries form rural areas are moving to cities, and population in the rural areas are decreasing and increasing in cities. I believe that this is a negative development because rural areas are losing talent and effect negatively on the development. In contrast, it is difficult for cities to manage huge number of migrants and provide accomodatoin and other services.

On the one hand, increasing number of migrants creates several problems for rurla areas such as losing educated people, shortage of labour and effect negatively on development of the rural areas. When educated people move to cities then the literacy rate of the village will be decreased. When people moving to cities then villages suffer from shortage of labour and impact negatively on the industries and businesses. In addition, when huge number of people migrate to cities then it is difficult for authorities to provide shelters, healthcare facilities, educational benefits and other necessary facilities.

On the other hand, there are also some benefits for individuals to moving cities such as better career opportunities and highly paid jobs. People often move to cities in order to find suitable job and secure the future. Furthermore, young people or students move to migrate to cities for better education because in rural areas education standards are not sufficient to fullfil the requirements of good quality education. In several rural areas there is no university for higher education.

In conclusion, although moving to cities offer several benefits such as better career opportunities and getting good quality education, it has several drawbacks such as losing talente or educated people, shortage of labour. I believe that this is a negative development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction to the conclusion: you consider rural-to-urban migration a negative development, while acknowledging benefits for individuals. You address both sides with relevant points, including the loss of educated residents and labour in rural areas, and pressure on city services. This meets the task well, and the discussion shows some of the development expected at a stronger level. However, several claims are asserted rather than explained: for example, the link between educated people leaving and lower village literacy is not fully clarified, and the effects on rural industries remain general. Develop one or two examples further and explain how they support your overall judgement to make the argument more consistently convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting contrasting effects, and a conclusion that restates your view. The signposts “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and repeated openings such as “When people…” and “When huge number…” make the first body paragraph feel list-like. Some links between ideas are also unclear; for instance, the discussion moves from rural labour shortages to city services without explaining the connection or distinguishing the two locations. Use a wider range of linking methods, and organise each paragraph around a central point with explanation and an example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “career opportunities,” “shortage of labour,” “healthcare facilities,” and “higher education.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable word-choice, collocation, word-form, and spelling errors reduce precision. Examples include “effect negatively on the development,” “educational benefits,” “talente,” and “accomodatoin.” Some phrases are also awkward, such as “young people or students move to migrate to cities.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your position, but they make the writing less natural. Build accuracy with common collocations for migration and public services, and proofread spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “because,” “when,” and “although.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main meaning is generally clear. However, some errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence construction remain. For example, “population … are decreasing” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “When people moving to cities” is missing a finite verb. In “moving to cities offer several benefits,” the subject and verb do not agree. Review these patterns and check each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb. More accurate control of these structures would make your argument easier to read.

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