Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-07
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 5.5)
This is about crime novel and TV crime dramas. In many countries today, crime novels and TV crime dramas are becoming more and more popular, I do not completely agree with this statement.
In fact, While reading a crime novel and watching TV crime dramas, It may cause mental health effects like, Increased anxiety, sleep problems, vicarious trauma and some social and behavioral impact. So, for this viewers and readers can start to feel that danger is everywhere. It can cause trouble falling asleep, bad dreams and night restless, some times It can make people feel deep depressed or sadness.
However, In many countries today mostly the people spend their spare time in reading novels and watching TV dramas, Moreover lot of people have interest in crimes, it is novel or TV drama they attract easily. In these days people mind set is on negative things like they want some interest in their life such as, some suspense in story, tricky mystery puzzles, experience thrills etc. So they read crime novels and Watch Crime TV dramas in that their concentration on protagonist and antagonist. Sometimes the benefit of reading crime novels and watching crime dramas in TV are they learn some strategy and aware in any situation. So, it was popular many countries.
In conclude, By reading crime novel and watching TV crime dramas are beneficial sometimes, and it have some advantages and some disadvantages so, mostly the people in many countries like to read and watch. But, whenever we are reading or watching we should remember that this is just a story for entertain the audience, so we should take care of our health as well.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for popularity and personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. The first body paragraph focuses on negative mental health impacts, which is a valid opinion, but the second paragraph attempts to explain the popularity of the genre with somewhat repetitive and disjointed reasoning. The position is clear, but the arguments lack depth and specific examples. For instance, the mention of 'learning strategy' is vague and not well-supported. To reach a higher band, you should provide more concrete examples of why these stories are compelling (e.g., the psychological appeal of solving puzzles) and ensure your opinion is more clearly integrated throughout the essay.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression between ideas is often weak. The use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or misused, such as starting a sentence with 'In fact, While...' or 'In conclude, By reading...'. The transition between the negative impacts and the reasons for popularity is abrupt, making the overall flow feel disjointed. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks the necessary flow to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'negative things', 'interest', and 'popular'. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'night restless' (should be 'restlessness') and 'people mind set is on' (should be 'people's mindset is focused on'). While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated vocabulary and the presence of errors in word formation limit the score. To improve, focus on learning collocations related to media and psychology, and work on using more precise academic vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Issues include incorrect verb forms ('it have some advantages'), punctuation errors (excessive use of commas and capitalization of words like 'While' and 'In'), and subject-verb agreement problems ('people... they attract easily'). The sentence structure is often repetitive, and the misuse of articles and prepositions is noticeable. While the meaning is usually understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips would be beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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