Question 1

How often does crime & punishment come up in IELTS Writing Task 2?

Accepted Answer

It's one of the most-tested themes. Examiners draw on it because it generates strong opinions while remaining accessible to candidates from any background. You can reasonably expect to encounter a crime & punishment question in practice tests and on the real exam.

Question 2

What question types should I expect on crime & punishment?

Accepted Answer

All five Task 2 shapes are fair game: opinion (agree/disagree), discuss both views, problem-solution, two-part, and advantages-and-disadvantages. The same theme can appear in any of these shapes, so practise the same idea across multiple question types rather than memorising essays.

Question 3

How specific do my examples need to be?

Accepted Answer

Specific enough to be falsifiable. "Many studies show X" is empty; "a 2019 OECD report on X found Y in Z country" is concrete. You don't need a real citation. Examiners reward the specificity of the claim, not the accuracy of the source. Naming a country, a year, or an industry counts.

Question 4

Can I use the same vocabulary across all crime & punishment essays?

Accepted Answer

Topic-specific lexis matters. Each of the 6 questions below hides a slightly different angle, and Band 7+ vocabulary depends on naming the precise mechanism: "carbon-intensive industries" beats "polluters", "screen-mediated communication" beats "talking online".

IELTS crime & punishment
essay questions.

About crime & punishment in IELTS

IELTS crime & punishmentessay questions.

About crime & punishment in IELTS

IELTS crime & punishment
essay questions.