Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Rural people from different countries around the world, move to cities from countryside which decreases the population in those areas. Although there are many advantages in moving to countryside, I strongly think that this can have a negative impact in rural areas and globally.

As there are lot of opportunities in countryside, people tend to migrate to start a new living. They get to explore various fields that intrigues them rather than being selective to farming or diary production which are common in rural areas. For example, people in taiwan move to silicon valley a tech hub in USA filled with potential attracts people as there various fields available to develop their lifestyle. Moreover, due to this migration trend we can expect a decline in manpower to manage rural functional activities.

Most of the food consumed by people are produced in rural areas either by farming or dairy production. These farmed goods are then exported globally to be served as food for people living all around the world. For example, India has a huge agricultural background faced downfall in production of goods due to increase of the migration trend to big cities. Therefore, the increase in this trend harmed farmers living in rural areas failing to meet their production requirements faced a depreciating loss in their goods production over the years.

In conclusion, countryside provides lustrous job opportunities to people, making them move from their hometowns. I personally think this trend will eventually lead to a negative development around the world causing food shortages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-urban migration negative, particularly because it may reduce agricultural production and contribute to food shortages. The discussion of lost rural labour and the example of India are relevant to the question, and you give reasons rather than simply stating an opinion. However, some ideas are less fully developed than others. The paragraph about opportunities mainly explains why people move, rather than showing in detail how this creates a negative outcome; the Taiwan example also needs a clearer link to rural depopulation. Develop the consequences with a specific explanation or example, and make sure each body paragraph directly supports your judgement about whether the trend is positive or negative.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main line of argument can be followed. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “For example,” and “Therefore” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph moves from job opportunities to the Taiwan example and then to reduced rural manpower without fully connecting these points. Some references, such as “this trend,” could also be more precise about which effect is being discussed. Use topic sentences that state each paragraph’s main negative consequence, then arrange the explanation and example in a clear sequence. This would make the organisation feel less mechanical and improve the links between claims and evidence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “migrate,” “agricultural,” “production,” and “food shortages,” which helps communicate the central argument. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “decline in manpower.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, and these sometimes make the meaning less clear. For instance, “start a new living” and “lustrous job opportunities” do not express the intended ideas naturally, while “diary production” appears to be a spelling error for “dairy production.” Capitalisation is also inconsistent in “taiwan.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling and word forms; this will make your vocabulary more effective without needing unnecessarily elaborate wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in the opening and a cause-and-effect sentence beginning “Therefore.” The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles and punctuation are noticeable. For example, “Rural people …, move to cities” has an unnecessary comma, and “there are lot of opportunities” needs an article. The sentence beginning “For example, India has a huge agricultural background” becomes difficult to follow because its clauses are not joined clearly, while “people … move … which decreases” has an unclear grammatical link. Practise building complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and check articles and clause boundaries. Greater control of these patterns would make your complex sentences easier to understand.

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