Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-27

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)

In many nations from all over the world, people are moving to cities rather than rural area, which decrease population of countries. I believe it is not a positive development due to this city will be more crowded. I think it is good to stay to rural side as well. My preference is aruged further in the following pragraphs.

Mainly it might give negative result such as a rural aera will never develop while, city will have more than enough population. If people start to live in city then there will be more job requirement because there are many people who are capable of doing job. In that case, unemployment ratio will increase. For instance, if there is no need for new employees in any companies, people will be jobless even though they have skill. As a result, rate of people without jobs will increase and population as well.

In contrary, many individuals advocate that it is positive for people to live in cities cause it will help them to develop their personality. By living in city, they will able to fight any problems and can solve them much quicker. For example, if rural people move to city, it will be totally new environment for them which help them in many ways. Therefore, they believe it is positive situation.

To conclude and giving my opinion, it is negative development because there will be less public in rural aera. Where they can enjoy nature and have fresh air unlike city. Moving from rural to city will affect both areas in negative and positive way as well. According to me, people must live in rural aera to stay connected with nature.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that rural-to-urban migration is negative, and you address both sides by mentioning possible personal benefits of city life. The points about crowding, unemployment and the loss of rural communities are relevant. However, the position is not fully consistent: the introduction says it is “not a positive development,” while the conclusion also says migration affects both areas in “negative and positive way.” Several claims need fuller explanation or more precise support. For example, the link between more city residents and unemployment is asserted rather than demonstrated, and the opposing point about developing one’s personality is only briefly explained. Develop fewer ideas in more depth and make your final judgement consistent throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate body paragraphs and a conclusion. You also use signposting such as “For instance,” “In contrary” and “To conclude,” which helps show the intended stages of the argument. However, progression between ideas is sometimes unclear or repetitive. The first body paragraph moves from rural underdevelopment to job competition and then repeats the unemployment outcome without clearly connecting each step. “In contrary” introduces the opposing view, but the relationship between that view and your own position could be explained more explicitly. Some references, such as “Where they can enjoy nature,” are not smoothly attached to the preceding sentence. Use clearer links between claims and examples, and ensure each paragraph develops one central point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “unemployment,” “employees,” “environment” and “fresh air,” so the reader can follow the general subject. However, the range is limited and several noticeable word-choice, collocation and spelling problems make parts less natural or occasionally difficult to interpret. Examples include “rural side,” “job requirement,” “unemployment ratio” and “public in rural area”; these do not express the intended ideas precisely. There are also spelling errors such as “aruged,” “pragraphs” and “aera.” Aim to learn common collocations for migration and employment, and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish population growth, job availability and rural development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “If people start to live in city then there will be more job requirement” and a relative clause beginning “which decrease population.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence structure, agreement, articles and verb forms. For example, “which decrease” should agree with its subject, while “they will able” is missing a verb form. The sentence beginning “Where they can enjoy nature” is a fragment, and “To conclude and giving my opinion” is not grammatically formed. These errors sometimes make relationships between ideas harder to follow. Practise accurate sentence patterns before adding more complex clauses, and proofread for complete sentences and subject–verb agreement.

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