Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries today, crime novels and TV crime dramas are becoming more and more popular. Why do you think these books and TV shows are popular? What is your opinion of crime fiction and TV crime dramas?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

With increase in number of streaming platforms, people are choosing to spend their time watching shows and reading books involved with criminal activities, over casual entertainment. Not only this trend allow these individuals to connect together from different part of globe, it make them discuss the plot twists and actions of characters with their own point of view.

Firstly, such novels and series creates a sense of suspense and curiosity. Which makes them stick till the very end. This keeps their mind off from their daily stress and busy routines for a while. The thrill of their favorite character meeting their expectations rewards with immediate happiness. Even though being in negative roles, the way well written characters challenge the system, provides audience with mutual understanding and makes them fall in love with such characters.

In addition, viewers and readers who share same interests comes together to discuss their idols and their decisions over social media. This helps them identify ones who share similar interest and they instantly become good friends. In some cases, culturally and globally divided audience comes together to support their favorite ones. For instance, in the Avengers - End game, Thanos was an evil person but when people understood that he wanted to make human civilization realize of how ungrateful they are, viewers realized his feelings and started supporting him even knowing he is on the wrong side.

To conclude, I believe such interests unifies specific group of people. Many of them start utilizing their time to read or watch what trend follows to get over the fear of missing out and to be part of social trend. Hence, people admire the way their favorite characters challenge their life situations, government and global situations and that is the reason the popularity of entertainment sources which involves crime is rising.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the popularity of crime fiction and the writer's opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the sense of suspense and the social aspect of discussing plots. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The example of Thanos from 'Avengers' is a bit tangential, as it is a superhero film rather than a traditional crime drama, which weakens the argument. While the position is clear, some points, particularly regarding why people admire characters who challenge the government, could be more deeply explored to reach a higher band. Overall, the response is relevant and covers the requirements sufficiently.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'In addition', and 'To conclude', which help guide the reader. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some referencing is unclear, such as the phrase 'ones who share similar interest' which feels a bit repetitive. The transition between the idea of suspense and the social aspect of fandom is handled reasonably well, but the overall progression could be smoother with more varied linking phrases.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. The writer uses some topic-specific terms like 'streaming platforms', 'plot twists', and 'criminal activities'. However, there are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'rewards with immediate happiness' and 'what trend follows'. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise vocabulary that would elevate the response to a higher band. Some phrasing is slightly unnatural, though it does not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('this trend allow', 'series creates', 'interests comes') and missing articles ('from different part of globe'). While these errors are frequent, they rarely impede the reader's understanding. The punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure could be more varied to demonstrate better control. To improve, the student should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct usage of articles.

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