Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-29

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, people who lives in countryside, they are moving to urban area. So, the number of people increased in the city area as well as decreased in the rural area. There are a lot of reasons to shift urban area. One of the major reasons is that there are available facilities in the city. From my perspective, this is a negative development. Because it can cause several drawbacks such as overpopulation or increase traffic congestion.

On the one hand, in the city, there are several basic facilities that can easily experienced by local people. On the other hand, people who lives in rural area, they did not experience such facilities. For example, in the city area, there are available hospitals with modern machineries, while in the countryside people did not get proper basic health services. As a result, they are shifting to cities. It is the major reason behind overpopulation. When cities face overpopulation, public services have deteriorated. For overpopulation, governments cannot provide safety properly also the basic needs. In contrast, it will increase the number of unemployment.

On the other hand, as we know, if population increase rapidly, then it will increase traffic congestion which impacts on their daily life. They are losing their time without doing anything and also harm their daily work schedule. Employees, for example, have to go office on time, but they did not reached the office on time which impacts on their impression. Similarly, they will face accomodation issues. For overpopulation, it will impact on accomodation sector. They did not find proper accomodation for themselves.

In conclusion, governments should take proper steps to reduce this issue. They can provide similar facilities and opportunities in countryside which help the people who lives in rural area to stay.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider rural-to-urban migration negative, and you give relevant reasons, including pressure on public services, traffic congestion and accommodation difficulties. The healthcare example also helps explain why people leave rural areas, while your conclusion proposes improving facilities and opportunities in the countryside. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the link between overpopulation and unemployment is mentioned briefly, and the claim that governments cannot provide safety or basic needs needs a clearer explanation or example. Develop each main consequence with a specific cause-and-effect explanation, and make sure the discussion consistently focuses on the effects of rural depopulation as well as city growth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main ideas generally follow a sensible order. Paragraphs also group related points: the first discusses facilities and public services, while the second focuses on traffic and accommodation. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by unclear or mechanical links. For example, “For overpopulation” is repeated and does not clearly show the relationship between the ideas, and “On the one hand” followed by “On the other hand” does not establish a clear contrast in the first body paragraph. Use more precise links such as “As a result” or “This pressure can also…” and make references such as “they” unambiguous.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “public services,” “traffic congestion,” “unemployment” and “accommodation,” which helps communicate the main concerns. There are also attempts to express cause and effect, such as “impacts on their daily life.” However, the range is limited by repeated words and phrases, especially “overpopulation,” “facilities” and “people,” and some combinations are not natural, such as “modern machineries,” “increase traffic congestion” and “accommodation sector.” Spelling errors such as “accomodation” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated terms; for example, describe pressure on urban infrastructure or a shortage of affordable housing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “if population increase rapidly” and a relative clause in “which impacts on their daily life.” These attempts show some range, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction are persistent and sometimes make the meaning less clear. Examples include “people who lives,” “there are available facilities,” “they did not reached the office,” and the sentence fragment “Because it can cause several drawbacks.” Practise matching subjects and verbs, and use the correct verb form after auxiliaries: “did not reach,” not “did not reached.” Check each sentence for a complete main clause and use articles consistently.

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