Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-17

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)

These days crime novels and television dramas are becoming more and more popular in several countries. I believe the main reason for this popularity could be the suspense and excitement these dramas and novels create and the impact of outside world. In my opinion, that much of popularity dangerous for society.

First and foremost is crime serials and books creates too much excitement that people did not expected, whereas it not is attained in any other category. Taking blockbuster English tv show "Prison break " as an example, until now this serial is number one on viewership due to its suspense full story. Secondly, whatever is happening globally also puts impact on people's interest whether what to watch or not. As, crime rate is on alarming stage in many parts of world so, murder, theft related news stories forces people to watch or read something regarding it. To exemplify, according to the WHO's 2019 report 70% populace watch that sort of content what they observe during their day time and shockingly, this figure is increased in youngsters.

As far as my opinion is concerned, I think it is negative impact on society as one genre is gaining popularity. Primarily, it is not good for those writers who does not write this sort of novels and dramas either this popularity become them unemployed or forced them to write same sort material. Apart from this, it tenuous for children because whatever they are reading or watching today it will put deep impact on their future. For example, famous author Carl Marcux said that what ever today's generation listening, watching and observing it is more likely that most of that community is doing in future time.

In conclusion, it is concluded that excitement and outside society's effect are main reason why these crime novels and tv drama are becoming popular. But, their too much popularity is not good sign for society.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

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 appeal of suspense and the influence of real-world crime rates. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The argument regarding the negative impact on other writers is underdeveloped and slightly illogical, as popularity in one genre does not necessarily force other writers into unemployment. The position is clear throughout, but the supporting arguments could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. The use of the WHO report is a good attempt at supporting evidence, though the claim about 70% of the population watching crime content based on daily observations lacks a clear logical link.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Secondly', 'To exemplify', and 'In conclusion'. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by mechanical transitions and some awkward phrasing, such as 'Apart from this, it tenuous for children'. Referencing is generally clear, but the connection between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. The overall progression of ideas is logical, but the essay relies on a somewhat formulaic structure that prevents it from achieving a higher score for cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'populace', 'tenuous', and 'alarming stage'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'that much of popularity dangerous' instead of 'such popularity is dangerous', and 'this figure is increased' instead of 'this figure has increased'. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of precision and occasional awkward phrasing limit the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('crime serials and books creates', 'writers who does not write'), missing articles, and incorrect verb tenses ('it not is attained', 'it will put deep impact'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma placement. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable and suggest a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.

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

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