By English Test Coach · Updated
General Task 2 · Causes and evaluation
Moving from cities to small towns
An original IELTS practice question with a planning route and a sample answer to learn from.
Aim for at least 250 words in about 40 minutes. Suggested practice level: advanced, not a predicted band.
Your writing task
Some people with jobs based in large cities are choosing to live in smaller towns while working remotely. Why might they make this choice, and is the change positive or negative for the towns receiving them?
How to approach this question
Explain why the change happens and evaluate it separately. Answer both parts explicitly.
Reasons and evaluation: positive/negative and outweigh questions →
Community essays: compare service purpose, shared access and effects on residents →
Possible reasons: remote working may let people seek more space or live nearer relatives without changing jobs. Explain the motivation without assuming every small town is cheaper.
Town-level evaluation: newcomers may support local services while adding pressure to housing or transport. Judge the impact on the receiving town, not only on the worker.
These are possible directions, not required opinions or facts to memorise. Develop your own response and check every claim against the task.
A possible plan
- Introduction: identify the change and your overall judgement.
- Body 1: explain the reasons for the change with a plausible example.
- Body 2: evaluate whether it is positive or negative, or whether its advantages outweigh its disadvantages, as the question requires.
- Conclusion: answer both the causes question and the evaluation question.
Vocabulary you can use precisely
Choose language that fits your meaning. You do not need to include every phrase.
- local demand
- The amount of goods, services or housing wanted in an area.
New residents can increase local demand for shops and services.
- housing pressure
- Difficulty meeting the need for available, affordable homes.
A sudden increase in residents may add to housing pressure.
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