Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-03

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 6.0)

As the time is passing, the cities are becoming more advanced and offer several benefits. Moving to urban area from rural has become a common practise and number of migrants is going upwards with a great pace. I see it as a negative trend because of several compelling reasons. The justification for my opinion is elaborated in the essay.

The first and foremost point is that there is an unbearable amount of air pollution in most of the cities. The

human beings need fresh air for a healthy life and metro cities lack that. For instance, Delhi is a metro city as well as capital of India but its air quality is at the bottom in comparison to rural areas, inhaling toxic gases is same as smoking cigarettes. Despite air pollution another crucial reason is that in cities there is a lot of noise pollution. The noise of horns from cars, bikes,buses etc. Exposure to loud noise for an extended period can lead to temporary hearing loss, and can cause problems such as high blood pressure, hypertension, headache and many more. These health affecting cause are not well suited for older people.

In addition to these, Cities are too much crowded and lack acitivities like going for a walk in the green fields and the peace of countryside. The number of residents in cities is rising so is the commotion whereas in rural areas there are limited people in an areas and remembering each other is easy. For example in countryside everyone knows and treat others as a family however in cities most individuals are just minding their own business.

In conclusion, I would say that because of all the above reasons I prefer living in countryside rather than in crowded place like cities.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you regard rural-to-urban migration as negative, and the conclusion consistently supports living in the countryside. You address the question with relevant reasons, including air and noise pollution, crowding, and weaker community ties. The Delhi example helps make the air-quality point concrete. This response also shows some development beyond simply listing reasons, particularly when you explain possible health effects of noise. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained: the discussion of older people is brief, and the contrast between rural familiarity and urban isolation could be linked more directly to the effects of population decline in the countryside. Develop these implications and support each main idea more evenly to strengthen the response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main ideas generally follow a sensible order. Linking phrases such as “The first and foremost point” and “In addition to these” signal the progression. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and the first body paragraph contains several points—air pollution, noise pollution and health effects—without a clear transition between them. Some connections are also unclear, as in “The number of residents in cities is rising so is the commotion.” The conclusion repeats the preference for countryside living but does not draw together the reasons. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each example explicitly to its claim, and vary linking devices so the organisation feels more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “air pollution,” “toxic gases,” “exposure,” “commotion” and “compelling reasons.” These choices allow you to discuss environmental and social effects, and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “The justification for my opinion,” though this sounds less natural than a direct statement of your position. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “health affecting cause,” “activities like going for a walk in the green fields,” and “remembering each other is easy.” Spelling errors such as “practise” in this context, “acitivities” and “bikes,buses” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “the peace of countryside” discussion and a conditional-style explanation of noise exposure. Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are noticeable. For example, “Moving to urban area from rural” is missing articles and has an incomplete construction, while “The number of residents in cities is rising so is the commotion” needs clearer clause structure and punctuation. There are also agreement and article issues in “in an areas” and “everyone knows and treat others.” Capitalisation is inconsistent, as in “Cities” mid-sentence. Review articles, subject–verb agreement, and sentence boundaries, while continuing to use varied structures with greater control.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.