Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-21

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)

Yes, I agreed with this a lot of people are moving toward the cities due to some reasons. And in my opinion it is a bad developement. People move toward cities due to some reasons like hospital. In some rural areas, there is only one hospital in whole village or a town. So that's why people move towards the city. Another reason is that there is no best schools and colleges in rural areas. So people can make travel for the studies and they face difficulties in doing this so for this reason the whole family is shifted in the city. Job is also a big reason for this when people get the best job in the city they shift their whole family with him. Some people like to live in the city because they never like to live in the rural areas. But this movement impact a bad effect on the city population.The cities are teaming with people and there is no place in the city for other purposes like parks buildings etc. This population also really effect the traffic in the cities. And due to traffic there is many problems like accident. Accidents is a big problem. A lot of people died in one day. Due to traffic there is a noise pollution, and air pollution in the cities. Once I saw an accident on the road in the city . A heavy vehicle come very fast and hit a young boy very badly. I feel very badly when I saw this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-city migration a negative development. You give relevant reasons for people moving, including access to hospitals, education and jobs, and identify urban crowding, traffic and pollution as consequences. However, the response only partly develops the question of whether the overall change is positive or negative: most of the explanation describes why people move, while the negative effects are listed rather than explained in depth. The personal accident example illustrates danger on city roads, but its connection to rural migration could be made clearer. To strengthen the response, explain how the loss of rural residents affects countryside communities and develop one or two urban impacts with specific cause-and-effect reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The ideas are generally relevant and there is a basic sequence from reasons for moving to effects on cities. However, the response is presented as one long paragraph, so the shift from healthcare, education and employment to urban problems is not clearly signposted. Linking phrases such as “So that's why,” “Another reason” and “And due to” are repeated or used mechanically, and some connections are unclear—for example, “Some people like to live in the city” does not lead smoothly into the discussion of overcrowding. Use separate paragraphs for causes and consequences, then connect each point explicitly. Clearer referencing and a more deliberate progression would make the argument easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “hospital,” “schools and colleges,” “traffic,” “noise pollution” and “air pollution.” However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, especially “move,” “city” and “reason.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “best schools,” “make travel for the studies,” “teaming with people” and “impact a bad effect.” Spelling errors such as “developement” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise collocations and varied wording—for instance, describe cities as “overcrowded” and say that migration “places pressure on” transport and public services. This would make your meaning more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your response relies mainly on simple sentences, with a few attempts to connect ideas using “because,” “when” and “so.” Errors are frequent, and some sentences are difficult to process. For example, “Yes, I agreed with this” has an incorrect verb form, while “there is many problems” and “Accidents is a big problem” show subject–verb agreement problems. Articles, plurals and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “in whole village” and “city population.The cities.” Practise building accurate sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and punctuation. You can then add controlled complex sentences, such as explaining how limited rural services encourage families to relocate.

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