Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

People relocating from rural areas to cities for employment, business and to experience city life has become increasingly common. As a result, population in countryside are declining. I believe it has both positive and negative impact on development.

In last 10 years, specially young people are moving towards cities to purse a degree or to land a job. For example in India a lot of students move from their home town to big cities to pursue their bahcleor's degree becuase institutes and universities in cities have better curriculum and opportunites for their future. People are earning more and have better facilites in terms of education, health and employment. While public are moving towards cities for the development but at the same time cost of living is also increasing. With increase in industries and factories there is also in increase of pollution impacting the environment.

On the other hand, population in country side are declining rapidly. As a result of this deveopment of rural areas are lacking.There are not enough facilites for education, health care and employment. People are still struggling for the basic health care. for example in many rural areas there are no hospitals for emergency cases such as pregnancy. People have to travel to near city for the health care. As there are less number of industries in small town pollution is also very less.

Although development is happening in cities for the betterment of public but there is a gap in development of countryside.

Ultimately leading to positive and negative impact on both cities and rural areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both sides of the development and give a relevant position: you say it has “both positive and negative impact,” then discuss improved access to education, healthcare and jobs in cities alongside rural service shortages. The examples about Indian students and emergency pregnancy care help make the points concrete. However, the position is not fully resolved: the conclusion says there are positive and negative impacts but does not answer clearly whether the overall development is positive or negative. Several ideas are also asserted rather than explained, such as how city migration contributes to development or why rural decline has wider consequences. State your overall judgement explicitly and extend each main point with a clearer explanation or consequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, contrasting body paragraphs and a brief conclusion. “On the other hand” signals a shift to rural disadvantages, and examples generally follow the points they support. However, progression is uneven: the first body paragraph moves from education and employment to living costs and pollution without clearly linking these effects to the central question. The final two sentences are also separated in a way that makes the conclusion feel abrupt, and “Ultimately leading to…” is a fragment rather than a complete concluding statement. Some linking is repetitive or mechanical. Organise each paragraph around one main claim, connect supporting details explicitly, and use a complete conclusion that restates your overall view.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “employment,” “curriculum,” “industries,” “pollution” and “health care,” so the reader can follow the main subject. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems reduce precision. Examples include “purse a degree” for “pursue a degree,” “better facilites,” and “development of rural areas are lacking,” which is not a natural way to express the idea. “Public” is also used where “people” or “residents” would be more appropriate. These errors do not prevent understanding, but they are noticeable. Build a more accurate range of phrases for migration and regional development, and proofread spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a sentence beginning “While public are moving towards cities…” and a conditional-style example introduced by “As a result.” Meaning is generally understandable, but errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction occur repeatedly. For instance, “population in countryside are declining” needs a singular subject and an article, while “People relocating … has become” has a mismatch between the plural subject and verb. “Ultimately leading to positive and negative impact” is an incomplete sentence. These patterns show that complex structures are attempted but not consistently controlled. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and ensure every sentence has a complete main clause; then vary sentence structures while maintaining accuracy.

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