Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
To date, we have thousands of laws, regulations, and general ruleslaws, regulations, general rules enumerated to ensure our society functions as it should be. However, these restrictions could never be enough to cover every circumstance that happenshappened around the clockaround-the-clock. Therefore, should the law be our gospel for us to follow strictly without deviation? Or should we perceive each case as an individual and take multiple factors into considerationconsiderations? My opinion is definitely in favour of the latteron the latter. For people who value law as an inviolableimpregnable principle, the law itself would surpass human judgments. Humanity could be a defection when discussingwhen coming to talk about righteousness. EmotionSentiments and bias might get in the way and eventually lead to misjudgement and injusticemiscalculation and unjustness, resulting in man-made errors, a horrendous failure offor justice. Despite the fact that human error is almost inevitable, people still believe that takingpeople still believe taking certain factors into consideration is genuinely legitimate. Laws are considered the most basic requirement of human morality, making it the reason why this issue has become controversial. People might have broken the law yet the motivation behind such a deed could alter our interpretation ofto it. The main character in the operaOpera “Les Misérablesmiserable” stole a loaf of bread because he was close to starving to deathwas almost starved to death; a young heroin addict pickpocketed a wallet to satisfy his cravingscater to his cravings. These two cases above are both theftsthieveries, yet the morality standard was hardly equivalenteven. Our cognition helps us reconsider and adjust our decisions and prevent us from nonchalantly imposing the same punishment onputting the same amount of punishment on these two men without pondering over some more congruous solution. The law could be the guidance, a foundation of our ethical standards. Nevertheless, we still have to make room for flexibilityflexibilities and consider every crime as an individual.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay presents a clear preference for considering individual circumstances and supports it with contrasting crime examples, while also explaining why fixed rules may protect decisions from bias. Its main limitation is that both viewpoints are expressed through abstract or occasionally questionable reasoning, and imprecise vocabulary often obscures nuance. Prioritise clearer, more concrete development of each position using natural legal terminology.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are addressed and the preference for individualised punishment remains clear, though some reasoning is abstract and the comparison between the two thefts is not fully convincing.
Develop each view with a concrete consequence, such as consistency from fixed penalties versus proportionality from considering motive and circumstances.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument moves logically from fixed-law reasoning to individual circumstances and a clear conclusion, but the lack of paragraphing and some abrupt transitions reduce cohesion.
Use separate paragraphs for each view and signal the shift between them with a precise topic sentence.
Lexical Resource
The response attempts an ambitious range of legal and ethical vocabulary, but frequent inappropriate choices and word-form errors weaken precision.
Replace strained expressions such as 'humanity could be a defection' and 'both thieveries' with direct, conventional legal language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures generally convey the argument, although agreement, preposition, number, and sentence-construction errors recur.
Check fixed forms such as 'take factors into consideration,' singular-plural agreement, and article use before adding stylistic complexity.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.