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)

The concept of migration from rural areas to urban cities is increasing in recent years which makes the cities overpopulated. In my opinion, this is a negative development mainly due to some reasons like it causes the developed areas to be crowded and ultimately results in poor management of the human facilities.

On the one hand, the condition of the rural areas are not well suited for the living and their people lacks even the basic necessities of the life. Furthermore, in backward areas, people often lacks the clean water and basic shelter too. The government are not paying attention to such deserving people and thus to acheive those basic human needs, they migrate to the areas where they are easily accessible. Due to the globalization affect, the rural population is now well-awared of their basic human rights and therefore they opted the migration as a surviving option. As a result, the cities become crowded and so the problems like poor management of the facilities emerged. For example, the population in the villages of Sindh has faced dramatic decrease in past 2 years, whereas the nearby's population of Hyderabad city has increased. Ultimately, the shortage of clean water and electricity has being faced by the respective city.

To overcome this problem, the higher authorities should pay attention to such rural areas and try to solve their local problems to maintain a balance of population all across the country. In my thoughts, retaining a population into its area is much cheaper than sending the migrated population to its origin. At the end, a significantly important role is demanded from the senior management to maintain an effective balance of the people and their surviving necessities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you regard rural-to-urban migration as negative because it overcrowds cities and strains public services. You also offer a relevant example involving villages in Sindh and Hyderabad, and suggest that authorities improve rural conditions. These points address the question, but they are not developed equally. The discussion of why people leave—limited access to water, shelter and government support—is more detailed than the explanation of the wider consequences or the benefits of your proposed solution. The Hyderabad example would be more convincing if you explained how population growth specifically affects services and supported the claim with a clearer detail. Develop each main point with a cause-and-effect explanation or a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction states your view, the main paragraph explains migration and its effects, and the final paragraph proposes a response. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “As a result” and “To overcome this problem” help show relationships between ideas. However, the progression is sometimes mechanical, and the main paragraph combines several stages of the argument without clear internal organisation. The opening “On the one hand” also suggests a contrast, but no opposing view follows. Some references, such as “their area” and “the respective city,” are not fully precise. Organise the body around distinct points and use transitions that accurately reflect the relationship between them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “overpopulated,” “basic necessities,” “globalization” and “shortage,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “maintain a balance of population.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “urban cities,” “globalization affect,” “well-awared” and “surviving option.” Spelling errors such as “acheive” and “acheive” (intended as “achieve”) also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural combinations and check word forms and spelling; for example, use “urban areas,” “the effects of globalisation,” and “aware of their rights.” This would make your vocabulary more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “which,” “whereas” and “therefore,” and your meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in agreement, articles and verb forms occur across the response. For example, “the condition … are” should use a singular verb, while “their people lacks” needs a plural verb. In “The government are not paying,” the subject–verb agreement is inconsistent, and “has being faced” should be “has been faced” or, more naturally, “the city has faced.” Some long sentences also join several ideas, making grammatical control less secure. Practise checking each sentence’s subject and verb, and use a mix of shorter sentences and carefully controlled subordinate clauses.

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