Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-02

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)

It is now most common to move from the villages to cicties in the search of better facilities. many families are moving from backward area to the cities which cause decreasing in the population in the countryside.In this eassy i am going to share my opinion on this development.

In my perspective, depopulation in countryside have both positive and negative impact. I think everyone deserve to live a better life and everone to be facilitate equally whether they are living in rural area or citites such as advance technology in the field of medical, job opportunities, better education system.

From my way of thinking, the negative impact of depopulation in the rural areas leads people to forget about culture and their way of living and decreasing in population moving the rural areas toward eampty or deserted such as due to migration towards cities peoples or the coming generation will never know about there history or their ancestor language so these are some of negative impact in my opinion which is caused by the depopulation.

But in my opinion, it is also a postive development such as the due to less population the countryside have a less pollution there will be less traffic as compare to cities. the crime rate will lower as compare to citites for example due to less people living in village have less cars and the noise pollution due vehicle will be less also it will be easy to keep that town clean and will be easy to keeo it safe. so from view it is a list of some positive development due decreasing of people in countryside.

so, concluding the topic in my view depopulation rural areas is both positive and negative development decreasing in population will lead them to forget about their ancestors and positive development is that it will be easy to keep keep the rural area safe and clean.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the question by discussing both positive and negative effects, and your conclusion restates this balanced position. Relevant points include the risk that rural traditions and languages may be lost, alongside possible reductions in traffic, pollution and crime. However, the task asks whether this is a positive or negative development, so your overall judgement remains unclear: you describe it as both without saying which side outweighs the other. Some ideas also need fuller explanation. For example, you mention better medical care, jobs and education as reasons for moving, but do not explain how these benefits affect your evaluation of the development. State a clear overall view and support each main point with a specific explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for negative and positive effects, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the main topics. You also use linking expressions such as “From my way of thinking” and “But in my opinion” to signal shifts. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear, and several sentences combine multiple ideas without clear boundaries. The long sentence beginning “From my way of thinking” moves from cultural loss to migration and future generations, making the relationship between points difficult to follow. The conclusion repeats ideas rather than drawing them together into a decisive answer. Use clearer topic sentences, divide long explanations into shorter units, and make references such as “these are some” more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “depopulation,” “migration,” “job opportunities,” “ancestor language,” and “noise pollution.” These terms allow you to discuss both social and environmental effects. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For instance, “backward area” is an unsuitable description of rural places, while “the countryside toward empty or deserted” does not express the intended idea naturally. Spelling errors such as “cicties,” “eassy,” and “postive” are also noticeable. Build a bank of accurate topic phrases and check spelling; aim for precise expressions rather than repeating “positive development” and “less population.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a reason clause with “such as due to migration” and a contrast introduced by “But.” The main message is generally understandable, but errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and punctuation recur. For example, “depopulation in countryside have” needs a singular verb and an article, while “everyone deserve” also has incorrect subject–verb agreement. The sentence beginning “I think everyone…” lacks a clear grammatical structure, and several sentences run together after full stops or commas. Practise building accurate sentences around one main clause, then add a subordinate clause where appropriate. Check agreement, articles and sentence boundaries during proofreading.

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