Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that the best way to discourage smoking is to make smoking illegal in public places. Other people say that this is not enough and that other measures are needed.

Discuss both these views, and give your opinion.

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

A group of people argue that , prohibit smoking in public places is best the best way to discourage smoking. While other believe that we should try another way to stop smoking rather than making smoking illegal in publicly. I firmly believe in the first view and give my explanation in forth coming paragraphs.

The reason behind this is that, it can be very effective way to stop people to smoke in offices and other places like buses and malls and so on. To elaborate this, individuals spent their most of the time in offices or colleges .If government make smoking illegal in this places, they might forget smoke in their daily routine. For example, youngsters think twice to smoke in schools or universities as smoking prohibited in these places.

On the other hand, some individuals thinks that we should add another ideas like spread social awareness among the population. To explained this , governments can run some campaigns to spread the the awareness among the public. It not only help to individuals but also give them differt prespective way to looking the things ,like if they know what are the health problems it creates , they might never do smoking in their rest of the life. For instance, some doctors should provide some basic information about smoking in their campaign and make some posters regarding causes of smoking ,so people know how it can be affect our healthy life-style.

To conclude,although , spreading social awareness is best way to stop smoking ,But I believed restrict smoking in public places is one of the effective measure as it can affect entire population.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both views: restricting smoking in public places and using awareness campaigns, and your position in favour of restrictions is stated in the introduction and conclusion. Relevant examples include smoking rules in schools and universities and doctors providing information in campaigns. However, the reasoning is only partly developed. The claim that people may “forget smoke in their daily routine” is unclear, and the conclusion briefly calls awareness the best way before favouring restrictions, making your final position less consistent. Explain more precisely how public bans discourage smoking, and compare their effects with education before reaching a clear, consistent judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Connectors such as “On the other hand,” “For example,” and “To conclude” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow: the link between spending time in offices or colleges and forgetting smoking is not made clear, and the awareness paragraph moves from campaigns to health problems and posters without a strong sequence. Some transitions are mechanical, and the conclusion’s shift in emphasis weakens the overall progression. Use clearer topic sentences and make each example explicitly support the point immediately before it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “illegal,” “social awareness,” “campaigns,” and “health problems,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “another ideas,” “spread the awareness,” “differt prespective way,” and “causes of smoking.” Repetition of “smoking,” “people,” and “public” also limits flexibility. These errors sometimes make the intended meaning harder to follow, particularly in the explanation of how awareness changes behaviour. Build a bank of natural topic phrases and check word forms and collocations when revising.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including conditional forms such as “If government make smoking illegal… they might forget…” and a relative clause in “the health problems it creates.” However, complex attempts are often faulty, and errors occur frequently in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. Examples include “other believe,” “some individuals thinks,” “it not only help,” and “a very effective way” without an article. Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, with comma placement and sentence boundaries sometimes disrupting the flow. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and article use, then proofread each sentence for a clear subject and verb.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.