Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-03

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)

In today's rapidly developing world, watching television shows and reading books based on crime has become controversial topic to discuss. While I acknowledge the merits of alternative viewpoints, I firmly believe that it would yield significant benefits for individual and society as whole.

First and foremost, the most compelling argument is that crime dramas have numerous benefits in modern society. This is undoubtedly true because it is significantly reduce crime rate by making world aware about the way people commite crime. For example, digital crime become very common during this time, if someone knows about cyber crime, than there might less chance they get into it. It is therefore evident that crime dramas play crucial role in making world aware.

Moreover, another significant benefit is that reading books on criminal activities has transformative impact on younger generation. This stems from the fact that it is remarkably advantageous to pupil, enabling them to reduce focus on scorlling social media and increase their interest on reading books. For instance, interesting books makes habit of daily reading. This irrefutably establishes that reading crime based book is empowring and transformative for younger generation.

To conclude, whilst having more inerest on this thing has proven to be make mind dangerous with bad stories, it positive outcomes can not be overlooked. It helps people to get aware about the criminal activities in the world and influence younger generation to enhance their interest towards books. It is therefore I believe that individuals should imperatively increase their inerest in it.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially. While the prompt asks why crime books and TV shows are popular and what the writer's opinion of them is, the student struggles to directly answer the 'why' aspect in a nuanced way, instead relying on general claims like reducing crime rates. The writer's position is stated, but the ideas remain limited and under-developed throughout the body paragraphs. For instance, the claim that crime dramas reduce crime rates by making the world aware is supported by very basic reasoning regarding digital crime, without deeper elaboration or relevant examples from actual knowledge or experience. Similarly, the argument about younger generations reducing social media use lacks full expansion. To move up to a higher band, the response must present fully developed ideas that directly explore the reasons for popularity and offer more robust, well-supported arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response displays some organization with clear paragraph breaks, but it lacks an overall logical progression. While basic cohesive devices are utilized, such as 'First and foremost', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude', they often feel mechanical or are used inaccurately, as seen in the phrase 'It is therefore I believe'. Referencing and logical transitions between sentences can be repetitive and sometimes obscure the flow of ideas, particularly in the conclusion where multiple thoughts are compressed awkwardly. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to ensure that the logical flow from one sentence and paragraph to the next is smooth and transparent, utilizing a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices without over-relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The lexical resource is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The vocabulary used is often repetitive, such as the constant reuse of 'crime', 'dramas', and 'beneficial' or related forms. There are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation that cause some difficulty for the reader, such as 'controversial topic to discuss' instead of a controversial topic, 'commite' (a spelling error), 'empowring' (misspelling of empowering), and 'inerest on this thing'. Attempted less common lexical items often miss the mark regarding natural collocation. To reach the next level, the writer needs to incorporate a wider and more precise range of vocabulary, demonstrating better control over word formation and spelling while using more natural phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures. Although there are attempts at complex sentences, they are frequently faulty and contain persistent errors. Examples include 'watching television shows and reading books based on crime has become controversial topic' (missing article), 'it is significantly reduce crime rate' (incorrect verb form), 'than there might less chance' (grammatical pattern error), and 'it positive outcomes can not be overlooked' (possessive determiner error). Frequent errors in verb forms, articles, and agreement cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer must work on mastering basic grammatical structures and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately with correct punctuation and verb agreements.

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

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