Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22
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)
In many regions of the world, crime stories and crime shows have become popular these days, and this popularity is increasing day by day. I think the rising interest in criminal fiction is due to the public's curiosity to know about the reasons behind the mindset of criminals. Another reason is the engaging quality of these dramas, which do not let the audience go anywhere till the end.
First and foremost reason for the increasing popularity of crime shows and novels is the high crime rate and public unrest about the hidden elements of these crimes. So they have become more keen on watching the reasons that have been described in these kinds of dramas.
Furthermore, these dramas and fictions are mostly based on true incidents, so people can easily relate to these stories, in addition to that, these shows are raising awareness in the masses as well as helping them to eliminate the root causes of such crimes like, robbery, mobile snatching, kidnaping
and highlighting the reasons of youngsters indulge in these activities.
ISPR, also produced these kind of dramas to inform the public about current issues that the country is facing and that our forces are fighting to eliminate.
Conclusionally, we can say that crime stories are giving us entertainment as well as awareness at the same time, so this kind of stuff has engaging power in it to stuck audiance with tv and also make them socially intelligent.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing the reasons for the popularity of crime novels and TV shows, and briefly giving an opinion. However, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 241 words, which is below the mandatory 250-word minimum. This results in a direct penalty. Furthermore, while ideas such as public curiosity and raising awareness are introduced, they are somewhat under-developed and lack extension with concrete examples. For instance, the mention of 'ISPR' is a specific, albeit slightly localized and underdeveloped example, but the overall development remains limited, placing the task response in Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a basic organizational structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion marked by 'Conclusionally'. However, paragraphing is somewhat problematic; the second paragraph is exceptionally short, and the third paragraph contains a long, run-on sentence listing multiple examples ('robbery, mobile snatching, kidnaping and highlighting...'). Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes inaccurately or mechanically, such as 'First and foremost reason' missing an article, and 'in addition to that'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and overall progression lacks smoothness between ideas, reflecting Band 5.0 characteristics where organization is present but overall progression is flawed.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey basic ideas about crime fiction, curiosity, and awareness. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'curiosity', 'mindset', and 'engaging quality', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, such as 'criminal fiction' instead of 'crime fiction', 'Conclusionally' instead of 'In conclusion', and spelling mistakes like 'kidnaping', 'audiance', and 'stuck' instead of 'stuck/glued'. These lexical limitations and errors cause some distraction for the reader, placing the response securely in Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses ('dramas, which do not let the audience go'). However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('First and foremost reason'), agreement errors ('dramas... do not let', 'ISPR, also produced'), and faulty complex structures (the sentence beginning with 'Furthermore' runs on with comma splices). Punctuation is also weak, particularly around lists and concluding remarks. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, matching the descriptors for Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.