Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-21

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 5.0)

It is often argued that spending time with familiy and friends is more fruitful than spending time alone. No doubt, parents give emotional support and advice, however, spending leisure time alone provides relaxation. In my opinion socializing with friends and family is more beneficial.

On the one hand, parents and peers are crucial part of everyone's life as they provide emotional support which motivates the individuals to tackle any problem wheather it is personal or professional. Moreover, they give advice from their life experiences that improves our decision making decisions. For instance, if an individual is confused what he should persue after completing his high school education, he could get the best advice from his parents, and they will help him to find the better options of schools and universities.

On the other hand, some people devote most of their free time staying alone because they feel relaxed. While staying alone they can persue their interest which helps them to become more focused about their life goals. For instance, if an individual prefer his own company, he can concentrate more own his life, and achieve his goal.

To conclude, staying alone provides you clear goal of your life and give opportunity to follow interest which provide various opportunities. But parents and friends are also increase confedence, and provide support to indiviaduals which helps them to grow in their lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response suffers from a significant prompt misalignment: the student wrote about whether spending time with family and friends is better than spending time alone, completely ignoring the actual task about crime novels and TV crime dramas. This off-topic nature severely impacts Task Achievement. Furthermore, the length requirement of 250 words was not met, as the essay contains only 229 words. Despite these serious flaws, the student does present a clear position and supports their arguments with reasons and examples, even though it addresses the wrong question. For an off-topic response that meets most other aspects of basic task generation, a band score of 4.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall structure with standard paragraphing, including an introduction, two body paragraphs representing different viewpoints, and a conclusion. Transitional markers such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and the logical progression within paragraphs is somewhat formulaic. Cohesive devices are generally present, but the mechanical nature of their usage limits the score. Overall, the organizational framework is adequate for a band 6.0, as ideas are generally connected logically despite the content being entirely off-topic.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, with terms like 'emotional support', 'socializing', 'concentration', and 'professional'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'decision making decisions' and 'own his life' instead of 'on his life', along with spelling errors like 'familiy', 'wheather', 'persue', and 'confedence'. Less common lexical items are attempted but often lack precision or contain spelling inaccuracies. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic meaning of the writer's argument despite these recurring flaws, it fits the band 5.0 descriptors well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional structures and relative clauses ('if an individual is confused what he should persue'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, including subject-verb agreement issues ('parents and friends are also increase confedence') and missing prepositions. While the student attempts complex forms, they are frequently faulty. Punctuation is also inconsistent in places, particularly around introductory phrases and clauses. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar performance firmly at a band 5.0 level.

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

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