Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-20

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)

Nowadays peolpe in many countries move from village to the cities, that's why population in the countryside is decline. There are a lot of reasons why indiviuals move to the cities, such as for better education and facilities of the modern cities. Every basic need can be fulfil here in a second and everything are present on the doorstep.

Overall, it can be benefits for the people who can went here for study and for job opporunities in the city and it's side effect on it. It increase the pollution and traffic on the road.

This development has several disadvantages. When large numbers of people move to cities, urban areas may experience overcrowding, traffic congestion, pollution and housing shortages. As a result, the cost of living can increase significantly. Meanwhile, rural areas may suffer from a shortage of workers, particularly in agriculture. This could reduce food production and negatively affect the local economy. Furthermore, the closure of schools, hospitals and small businesses may make rural communities less attractive to live in.

Urban areas generally offer a wider range of jobs and higher salaries, which can improve people's living standards. Moreover, young people may have access to better universities and professional training, enabling them to build successful careers.

Although moving to cities can improve individuals' career prospects and access to essential services, I believe its disadvantages outweigh its benefits. Governments should create more employment opportunities and improve public services in rural areas to encourage people to remain there.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, and you address both sides by mentioning urban opportunities as well as pressure on cities and the loss of rural workers and services. The discussion of congestion, housing costs and reduced food production is relevant, but several points are asserted rather than explained with a specific example or fuller cause-and-effect reasoning. The opening also introduces reasons for moving without clearly linking them to your evaluation. The response contains 247 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum. To strengthen the response, develop one or two key effects in more detail, support them with a relevant example, and make the relationship between your reasons and final judgement explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, discussion of disadvantages, a paragraph on benefits, and a concluding opinion. This helps the reader follow your main position. However, progression is uneven: the second paragraph briefly mentions benefits and pollution, then the next paragraph restarts the disadvantages, so the organisation feels repetitive rather than steadily developed. The benefits paragraph also appears after a longer disadvantages paragraph without a clear transition explaining the shift. Use topic sentences to signal each paragraph’s purpose, group related points together, and connect them with precise transitions such as “On the other hand” or “A further consequence.” This would make the overall argument more coherent and reduce the impression of separate, loosely connected points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “overcrowding,” “traffic congestion,” “housing shortages,” “food production” and “career prospects.” These terms help communicate the main ideas, and there is some variety beyond basic everyday language. However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors weaken precision, particularly in the opening (“peolpe,” “indiviuals,” “opporunities”) and phrases such as “population in the countryside is decline” and “everything are present on the doorstep.” Some expressions are also vague, such as “it's side effect on it.” Proofread spelling carefully and choose natural collocations; for example, say that rural population “is declining” and that services “are readily available.” This will make your meaning clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional construction (“When large numbers of people move to cities…”) and a concession in the conclusion (“Although moving to cities can improve…”). These structures allow you to explain consequences and contrast benefits with drawbacks. However, errors in verb forms, agreement and sentence construction are frequent enough to make parts of the opening difficult to read. Examples include “population … is decline,” “Every basic need can be fulfil,” “everything are present,” and “It increase the pollution.” The sentence beginning “Overall, it can be benefits” also has an unclear grammatical structure. Practise subject–verb agreement, passive forms and modal constructions, and check each sentence for a complete, correctly formed clause.

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