Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-15

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)

It is certainly true that people are moving to cities. Due to the facts are more job opportunities, easily access facilities such as education, healthcare and transportation. It is my belief that positive effects of this innovation offset its negative aspects.

There are some drawbacks of migration to cities. A common criticism of this is that overcrowded and increases carbon emission. This means that increasing in population means increasing on wastage and traffic congestion during rush hour where it increases accident and effects climate or global warming. Another negative aspect can be that increases unemployment. Many people have different reasons to move cities but increase in population means increase on competition. one good illustration of this is that when i move to city. I personally experienced that the living cost in city is very high and on other hand the availability of rooms or flats is very low.

On the other hand, inspite of these negative aspects. There are some obvious advantage of migration. A common and simple positive effect is that people can get better opportunity to improve their living standards where they can provide better education and medical facilities to their family. This means that people can get job according to their skills where they can use their skill as a income sources. It is possible to say that the government invest on countryside land for agriculture where it helps nation to improve economy and exports agricultural products. Because of this many people interest to live their town and increases opportunity for upcoming generation. A particularly good example of this is that students can get better education and medical facilities where they could understand real world through different difficulties and become more independent.

To sum up, it seems to me that migration to cities has brought more benefits than its negative impact. Although it increase better opportunities, improve living standard, access of better facilities whether in other side it increase pollution, traffic congestion and increase competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-urban migration a positive development overall, while acknowledging drawbacks. You address both sides and give relevant points, including access to jobs and services, pressure on housing and transport, and your personal experience of high living costs. However, some ideas are not fully explained or are unclear. For example, the point that governments investing in rural agriculture improves exports is not clearly connected to why migration itself is beneficial, and the claim that city migration increases unemployment needs more explanation. To strengthen the response, develop each main reason with a clear cause-and-effect explanation and ensure examples directly support your judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages, a paragraph on advantages, and a conclusion. The contrast between the two main body paragraphs helps the reader follow your overall argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to track, and linking phrases are occasionally mechanical or incorrectly attached. For instance, “On the other hand, inspite of these negative aspects. There are…” breaks the sentence, while repeated patterns such as “This means” and “A common…” make the development feel formulaic. Some references, such as “it” in the discussion of congestion and accidents, are not fully clear. Use fewer formulaic transitions and connect each explanation directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “job opportunities,” “traffic congestion,” “living standards,” and “medical facilities,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal expressions such as “a common criticism” and “a particularly good example.” However, inaccurate word choice, collocation, and word forms are noticeable and sometimes make meaning less precise. Examples include “easily access facilities,” “increases carbon emission,” “use their skill as a income sources,” and “their town.” Some words and phrases are also repeated, particularly “increase” and “better facilities.” Build accuracy by learning common word partnerships and checking whether a noun, verb, or adjective form is needed in each phrase.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “where” and “although,” and the overall meaning can usually be followed. However, control is inconsistent: several sentences have faulty clause structure, agreement, or verb forms. For example, “Due to the facts are more job opportunities” is not a complete grammatical construction, and “There are some obvious advantage” has a number-agreement error. The final sentence also lacks a balanced structure after “Although,” making the relationship between the ideas unclear. Punctuation and capitalisation need attention as well, as in “one good illustration” and the sentence break after “aspects.” Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, then check agreement and punctuation.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.