Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-19

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)

People in several countries are shifting from rural areas to developed cities for taking good education, better career option , for good health, for more opportiunities etc. Parents wants there childern to be educated and have good job after completion of studies.People want more opportiunities and want to compete with best.In rural areas they do not have many opportiunities as compare to develped cities.

I think it's majoritly positive development because if a country has maximum educated people they are serving in different countries, cities, departments etc it helps a country in a significant growth where maximum population is educated , weather it's in medical field, business, science, teaching, forces, police etc. If they are educated and knows there field best it will directly increase the growth of that country.For example, An indian IPS officer Manoj kumar sharma is from a village of india and he shifted to Mumbai and then become an IPS officer and now he is serving as an officer in Indian Police.

Education is the key to sucess is the main factor, these educated peoples will serve in different countries and represent there countries name in front of world.Overall it's a positive change for a country.

Although, the population in countryside is decreses but not permanently, because majority of the people are shifted to cities will always came back to there places. For instance, I also myself shifted from a rural area to city for better educationa and good job opportiunities, but i never left my village, i always came back there almost every month. The population is decreasing for time being not permanetly.

In conclusion,overall it's a positive development for a country.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-urban migration mainly positive, and you give relevant reasons, including access to education and employment and the contribution educated people can make to national development. The example of Manoj Kumar Sharma and your own experience help make the response specific. You also acknowledge the decline in rural population and argue that people maintain ties with their villages. However, this concern is not fully examined: returning to visit does not necessarily mean people will move back or that rural communities avoid lasting effects. Develop this point and explain possible disadvantages, such as shortages of workers or services, to make the evaluation more balanced and fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable overall structure: it introduces reasons for migration, states your view, gives examples, considers the countryside, and concludes. Paragraphing helps separate these stages. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several ideas are joined in long, loosely connected sentences, particularly the discussion of educated people serving in different fields. Linking phrases such as “For example” and “Although” are useful, but some connections are mechanical or unclear; the shift from people returning to their villages to the claim that population decline is temporary needs a clearer explanation. Use one main point per paragraph, connect each example directly to that point, and make references such as “they” and “these educated people” unambiguous.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “rural areas,” “career,” “educated,” “opportunities,” and “population,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “significant growth” and “represent their country’s name.” However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, especially “opportunities,” “educated,” and “country.” Frequent spelling errors—such as “opportiunities,” “develped,” “sucess,” and “decreses”—and inaccurate word forms or collocations make the writing less clear and natural. Build a bank of accurate topic vocabulary and proofread spelling; choose precise expressions such as “career prospects” or “access to healthcare” rather than repeating broad terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with reasons and examples, including “Although, the population in countryside is decreses but not permanently.” This shows an effort to express relationships between ideas, but control is inconsistent, and many sentences contain errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, or sentence boundaries. For example, “Parents wants” should use a plural verb, while “they are educated and knows” mixes plural and singular agreement. The opening also strings several reasons together without a complete, well-controlled structure, and punctuation is often missing after sentence endings. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and complete sentence patterns first, then use complex clauses with conjunctions such as “because” and “although” in carefully checked sentences.

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.