Do you believe that societies ought to enforce capital punishment or are there alternative forms of punishment that would be better used?
Sample Response
Is the death penalty an effective deterrent? I am completely against this kind of abuse.I am strongly opposing capital punishmentthe capital punishment as it is inhuman.
As we are all aware,As you all are aware that human beings are prone to makingmake mistakes from which they learn a lot. It's human psychology to correct these mistakesrectify them over a period of time. Instead of imposing the death sentence, convicted offendersthe convicted should be given a chance to take corrective measures. It is inhumaneunmanly to execute a humanliving being. This impacts the rise in violent crime. Disciplinary actions can be taken by imposing less severe punishments on themthrashing some lower punishments on them.
Why this response received Band 5.0
The response presents an unequivocal opposition to capital punishment and suggests rehabilitation or lesser penalties, giving it a recognisable central argument. Its main limitation is severe underdevelopment at only 100 words, compounded by unclear claims and inaccurate phrasing; the priority is to construct a full argument that explains how specific alternatives work and supports them with relevant reasons or examples.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and an alternative approach is mentioned, but the ideas are minimally developed and the response is far below the required length.
Develop separate reasons against execution and explain concrete alternatives such as long imprisonment or rehabilitation with supporting examples.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a basic two-paragraph structure, but progression is weak because several claims are juxtaposed without clear logical links.
Give each paragraph one controlling idea and connect each supporting sentence explicitly to that idea.
Lexical Resource
Some topic-specific vocabulary is attempted, including "deterrent," "convicted," and "corrective measures," but frequent inaccurate collocations weaken precision.
Replace unnatural phrases such as "thrashing some lower punishments" with precise expressions such as "imposing less severe penalties."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple sentences are often understandable, but frequent errors in verb form, articles, sentence boundaries, and clause construction reduce control.
Practise accurate opinion structures and clause patterns, for example "I strongly oppose capital punishment because it is inhumane."
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Do you believe that societies ought to enforce capital punishment or are there alternative forms of punishment that would be better used?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.