Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-13

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)

Urban areas provide better lifestyles. In many parts of the world, rural people are migrating to urban areas, so the countryside population has decreased dramatically. In my point of view it is positive development because cities offers more facilities. I will discuss both positive and negative parts, in the upcoming paragraphs with relevant examples.

The primary benefit is that rural people can earn a higher income. To elaborate, developing countries have many job opportunities. For this reason, uneducated people also do work overtime and enhance their earning. For example, someone has not a particular degree but they work as a watchman and fulfilled their basic needs. In addition, people save their income. Like, the government provides free of cost education and healthcare services. Therefore, people do not spend their money for that type of needs. And save for long terms needs.

On the other side, the negative impact is that migrants increase accommodation prices. High demand of housing can lead housing shortages. For this reason people invest most part of their money for rent. Secondly, increasing population causes increasing pollutions. people can use frequently transportation. also busy their own vehicles. Consequently, it demage to natural sources like air, land and water. For instant, traffic jam and factory garbage enhance pollution. And affect of people life.

In conclusion, countries make people financially stable and make educate. However, population totally affect housing rents and affect on environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear overall view that rural-to-urban migration is positive, and you identify relevant benefits such as higher incomes and access to education and healthcare, alongside drawbacks involving housing and pollution. However, the position is not fully consistent: the introduction promises to discuss both sides, while the conclusion says countries “make people financially stable and make educate” but does not clearly restate whether the development is positive overall. Several points remain under-developed; for example, the watchman example does not explain how migration improves someone’s circumstances, and the environmental effects are listed rather than explored. The response is also 15 words below the required minimum. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation and a specific, relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and drawbacks, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical or unclear. Phrases such as “For this reason,” “In addition,” and “Secondly” are used, but the links between claims are not always explained; the move from saving income to free public services is particularly abrupt. Some sentences are fragments, including “And save for long terms needs” and “And affect of people life,” which interrupt the flow. The conclusion also does not clearly synthesise the two sides. Use fewer formulaic connectors and make each sentence’s relationship to the previous idea explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “job opportunities,” “housing shortages,” “transportation,” and “pollution.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “higher income” and “natural sources.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts difficult to understand. For instance, “enhance their earning” is not a natural expression, “demage to natural sources” is unclear, and “affect of people life” does not convey the intended meaning. Spelling errors such as “demage” and “instant” also reduce clarity. Build a bank of accurate phrases for migration, employment, housing, and environmental effects, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer structures, including “For this reason, uneducated people also do work overtime and enhance their earning,” and use basic cause-and-effect clauses. However, the range is limited, and frequent errors in sentence construction and agreement sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “cities offers” instead of a plural verb, “it is positive development” without an article, and “someone has not a particular degree but they work” with an awkward clause structure. Several fragments also occur, such as “And save for long terms needs.” Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check articles, agreement, and singular/plural forms. Combining short ideas accurately will improve control before you attempt more complex structures.

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