Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-13
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)
It is a undeniable fact that in numerous countries both are getting viral and popular, crime books and TV series based on crime. It is happening due to multiple reasons which I am going to address in this essay and I will give my perspective on it.
The new generation of this modern era became a fan of crime TV shows and books. It is mainly because of the thriller crime action showed in recent TV series got popularity through its views online. These kind of clips are captivating its audience with the drama and thriller crime action. Moreover, the crime based books are leading to more crime, to elaborate this, recently different country's police reported that most of criminals read crime books or watch criminal shows in order to not only perform the crime, but how they going to escape from the crime without leaving any clues of a crime.
Since the crime based books and TV shows are gaining more popularity, in my view sensor board and government should take some action and make strict policies for these type of contents. Furthermore, I believe, it is fine to read or watch crime fiction and crime series, however individuals who choose to watch or read these type of contents should not take any negative thoughts from it.
Ultimately, with internet, we get variety of content to watch and read which could be based on crime, however it ups to us how to control our mind and stop being influence towards crime.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for popularity and your personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is limited. The argument that crime fiction leads to actual crime is a significant claim that requires more nuanced support or specific examples rather than a vague reference to 'different country's police'. The position is clear, but the explanation remains superficial. To reach a higher band, you should expand on why these genres are psychologically appealing (e.g., the thrill of mystery, the desire for justice) rather than focusing solely on the potential negative influence on criminal behavior.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, 'to elaborate this' is used to introduce a new point rather than clarify the previous one. Additionally, the transition between the reasons for popularity and your personal opinion is abrupt. The progression of ideas within paragraphs is sometimes disjointed, particularly in the second paragraph where the link between online clips and the claim about criminals is not clearly established.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice, such as 'getting viral' (which is informal and used incorrectly here) and 'sensor board' (likely referring to a 'censorship board'). The repetition of 'crime' and 'crime-based' throughout the text limits the lexical variety. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated collocations or topic-specific vocabulary prevents a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('clips are captivating its audience'), article usage ('the crime based books'), and awkward sentence construction ('how they going to escape'). While the meaning is usually understandable, the frequency of these errors indicates a lack of control over complex structures. Focusing on basic accuracy and proofreading for common errors like missing prepositions or incorrect verb forms would significantly improve your score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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