Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-22

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 5.5)

It has been observed that TV crime shows and crime fictions became more popular nowadays. There are several root cause of this trend and also some circumstances which has been resulted due to the propagation of crime ideas. Both the reasons and the influences are elaborated further.

Examining the reasons, the most common is that a good number of social media creators choosed the true crime stories as a content. Making short or long videos of this type of stories can bring a massive amount of vues. Although, people like to listen and watch this type of TV dramas lately at night to get sleep. Writers are massively producing books of crime fiction because readers are amazed by the criminal's personallity and their way of thinking to how they excute the operations.

In my opinion, this subject is so far so intresting. Every plot has his own feelings, value and preference. I like listening to this kind of podcasts when I do my make up or clean my house, and reading crime books allows me to go inside the criminal brain and understand how a human can lost his mind in a moment of anger and hurt someone else juste because they did not like him.

To conclude, it can be said the fact that this kind of content is going more popular

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

You address both questions: you suggest that social-media creators attract viewers to true-crime stories, and you give a personal opinion, explaining that you enjoy crime podcasts and books. However, the reasons are only partly developed. The claim that people watch dramas “to get sleep” is unclear, and the discussion of writers’ interest in criminals’ personalities needs a clearer explanation of why this appeals to audiences. Your opinion is present, but the conclusion is unfinished and does not bring the main points together. The response is also 27 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to explain and support your ideas. Develop each reason with a clear explanation or example, and finish with a complete concluding statement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, a paragraph giving your opinion, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of your answer. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven: the shift from social-media videos to watching dramas “to get sleep” is abrupt, and the final paragraph ends before completing its point. Linking phrases such as “Examining the reasons” and “In my opinion” are useful, but some connections feel mechanical or do not clarify how ideas relate. Organise the reasons in a more deliberate sequence, use clear references between sentences, and ensure the conclusion completes the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “true crime stories,” “crime fiction,” “criminal’s personality,” and “plot,” and you attempt more specific expressions such as “propagation of crime ideas.” This gives you a basic range for discussing the subject. However, several word choices and spelling errors make parts of the response difficult to understand, including “vues,” “personallity,” “excute,” and “intresting.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “a good number of social media creators choosed” and “go inside the criminal brain.” Choose more natural collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, describe creators as “producing true-crime content” and say that a book offers insight into “a criminal’s mindset.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a subordinate clause beginning “because” and a sentence explaining what reading crime books allows you to do. However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. Examples include “There are several root cause,” “circumstances which has been resulted,” and “how a human can lost his mind”; these show problems with plural agreement, verb forms, and sentence construction. The opening also shifts awkwardly between past and present time. Work on forming complete, controlled sentences and checking subject–verb agreement and verb patterns—for instance, “a person can lose their temper.” Clearer punctuation and shorter sentences would also help readers follow your meaning.

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

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