Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-11

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 5.0)

There are many countries around the world where people in rural areas are moving to the cities to see opportunities. Thus the population in the countryside is decreasing with the increase of population in the cities. According to me moving has both positive and negative development.

To begin, nowadays people in rural areas are moving to the cities. There are lot of reasons behind this approach. Some of the people move to the cities for better employment and education for their children, others move to the cities as their relatives are living in the cities. After this many people move to the cities because of the facilities of hospitals and industries which are not in countryside. For example, a student from a coutryside move to the city to seek education.

Furthermore, there are also some disadvantges of migrating. First of all, the population of cities increasing day by day with the problems arising from overpopulated. Pollution in cities are increasing though unemployment is also rising. A lot of problems are rissing due to the overpopulated cities. People from the countryside are further increasing population of cities.

Finally, I would say that people migarte from place to other place for better living. I would say that the population of countryside is not decreasing too much as people who are tired from the bu

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify relevant reasons for rural-to-urban migration, including employment, education, healthcare and family connections, and you mention urban overcrowding, pollution and unemployment as drawbacks. However, the task asks you to decide whether this is positive or negative, while your position—“both positive and negative development”—does not establish which view you support. The final paragraph begins to offer a conclusion but is cut off (“people who are tired from the bu…”), so your overall judgement and supporting explanation remain incomplete. The examples are brief, and the student example is not developed to show its wider significance. The response is also below the required 250 words. State a clear overall view, develop each main reason with explanation or an example, and finish the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

Your response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph about reasons for moving, a paragraph about disadvantages, and an attempted conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin,” “Furthermore,” and “Finally” help signal these stages. However, progression is limited because the introduction promises a balanced view without clarifying the overall argument, and the conclusion is unfinished. Some links are mechanical or unclear: “After this” does not clearly connect the reasons, while “though” in the sentence about pollution and unemployment does not express the intended relationship. Repetition of “people move to the cities” and “population” also makes the development feel circular. Use clearer links between cause and consequence, and organise the body around a consistent position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “employment,” “education,” “facilities,” “overpopulated,” and “unemployment.” There are also attempts to vary expression with “migrating” and “development.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For example, “to see opportunities” is not a natural way to describe the purpose of moving, and “problems arising from overpopulated” uses the wrong form. Spelling errors such as “disadvantges,” “rissing,” “migarte,” and “coutryside” are noticeable. Aim to use precise phrases such as “seek better opportunities” and “overcrowded cities,” and proofread carefully for spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a sentence that contrasts different reasons for migration. However, the range remains limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For instance, “the population of cities increasing” is missing a finite verb, and “Pollution in cities are increasing” has subject–verb disagreement. In “there are lot of reasons,” an article is missing; “a student … move” also has a subject–verb agreement error. The final sentence is incomplete, which prevents the conclusion from being grammatically complete. Practise accurate present-tense sentence patterns and check each sentence for a clear subject and verb before adding more complex clauses.

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