Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-12

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 6.5)

In many countries across the world, people living in rural areas are prefering to relocate to cities. Therefore, the number of habitants in villages are declining. In my opinion this is largely a positive development because they can avail number of facilties in cities, although it can have some drawbacks to urban population.

On the one hand, these people can have access to a number of services which rural areas lack. Cities provide advanced medical services, quality of education, modren shopping malls, and a great variety of restaurants. Thus, in case of a emergency, they can rush to a hospital whereas travelling from a backward area could take several hours to reach a good medical centre. Therefore, an affective treatment at right time can save a precious life. Besides that, their children can study in good instituations under the supervision of qualified staff for each subject. This will not only help them develop new skills and properly utilize their existing abilities but also boost their employment opportunities in future. Consequently, they can improve living standards.

On the other hand, excessive migration to the urban centres can leads to several problems such as over crowding and traffic issues. As a result, there will be a shortage of available accommodations and living cost will rise. Therefore, lives of all the people residing there will be effected with lower income families suffering the most. Furthermore, when more and more people move to cities, this results in traffic congestion. People will remain stuck on long ques for several hours, leading to frustration and mental torture among the commuters. Therefore, these experiences can cause further problems instead of facilitations.

In conclusion, mirgrating to cities is a positive development which allows people from rural areas to get all the basic facilities and improve their lives. However, this also make cities overly populated and increase in the living cost.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider rural-to-urban migration largely positive, while acknowledging pressure on city residents. You address both sides with relevant support, including access to hospitals and education, and the effects of crowding, housing shortages and congestion. The examples about reaching medical care and children’s future employment help extend your main reasons. This is a well-focused response, though some claims remain broad: for instance, the benefits of shopping malls and restaurants are listed but not explained as fully as healthcare and education. To strengthen the argument further, develop one or two examples with more specific consequences and make the comparison between rural and urban opportunities more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear progression: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present contrasting effects, and the conclusion restates your position. The topic sentences “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” make the structure easy to follow, while links such as “Thus,” “Besides that,” and “Furthermore” show relationships between ideas. Some transitions are used mechanically or repeatedly, particularly “Therefore,” and the final paragraph largely repeats points already made rather than drawing them together. There is also a slightly unclear link in “these experiences can cause further problems instead of facilitations.” Use a wider range of natural referencing and linking, and ensure each concluding sentence clearly follows from the point it summarises.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “advanced medical services,” “qualified staff,” “employment opportunities,” “traffic congestion,” and “living standards.” These choices communicate the main ideas, but several inaccurate word forms, spellings and collocations reduce precision: “prefering,” “facilties,” “modren,” “affective treatment,” “ques,” and “facilitations.” Some expressions are also unnatural, such as “number of habitants” and “mental torture among the commuters.” These errors do not prevent understanding, but they show that less common vocabulary is not yet consistently controlled. Prioritise accurate spelling and natural word partnerships, and choose straightforward terms when you are unsure of a more elaborate expression.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses of reason and result: “because they can…” and “when more and more people move to cities…”. Most relationships between ideas remain understandable, and the essay includes some well-formed longer sentences. However, some grammatical errors persist. For example, “the number of habitants in villages are declining” has a subject–verb agreement problem, “in case of a emergency” has an article error, and “excessive migration … can leads” uses the wrong verb form. The conclusion also has agreement and structure problems in “this also make cities overly populated and increase in the living cost.” Review agreement, articles and verb patterns, then proofread complex sentences to ensure each clause is grammatically complete.

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