Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-10

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 6.5)

A substantial number of individuals are convinced with the prospect of banning smoking in public places while certain people believe that it is not sufficient and stringent laws should be enforced to make people withdraw smoking. In my opinion, I am also convinced with the perspective of taking strict actions along with banning to restrict smoking.

Smoking is injurious to health and cause many serious health issues. The advocates who consider that the restriction of smoking and completely making it illegal to smoke in public area is a better option. It is because if any activity is illegal, people often fear of committing it. The government should take strong actions against the person who abides the law. As a consequence, public will stop smoking in community places.

On the other hand, there are several groups of citizens who think that there should be some additional measures followed that could alleviate this issue. Primarily, restricting smoking in open places could be a positive step. The other points to take into account is prohibiting the sales of cigarette in places such as near schools, hospitals, universities and public transit stops. It would be beneficial to inhibit the habit of smoking among youngsters. Furthermore, a strong campaign could spread awareness about the risks associated with smoking. For instance, advertisements and banners should be placed in public places demonstrating that not only active smoking is dangerous, passive smoking is also fatal for those who do not smoke.

In conclusion, while restricting smoking in a public place is a mandatory action that needs to be taken by the government, other measures such as awareness campaigns and invigilating the sales of such substance will also contribute to fight this issue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and state a clear position: you support banning smoking in public places alongside additional measures. The response gives relevant reasons, including fear of legal consequences, restricting cigarette sales near schools and hospitals, and raising awareness of passive smoking. These points meet the task well, but they are not developed equally. The case for making smoking illegal is explained briefly and largely through the general claim that people fear breaking the law; a specific consequence or example would strengthen it. The additional measures are more varied, though their likely effectiveness is mostly asserted rather than explained. To develop the response further, show how the measures would work in practice and support key claims with a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion that restates your position. Transitions such as “On the other hand,” “Furthermore,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the progression. The organisation is generally logical, but some links feel mechanical, and the relationship between ideas within paragraphs could be clearer. For example, the first body paragraph moves from the health effects of smoking to the argument for prohibition without explaining the connection, while “The other points to take into account” introduces a list in an awkward way. Use more precise referencing and connect each supporting point explicitly to the paragraph’s main claim to make cohesion smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “stringent laws,” “alleviate this issue,” “awareness,” and “passive smoking.” These choices show an attempt to use less common and formal language, but some expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “convinced with the prospect,” “withdraw smoking,” and “invigilating the sales.” There are also imprecise choices such as “public area” and “such substance.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Aim for familiar, accurate collocations rather than choosing formal-sounding words that do not fit the intended meaning; for example, use “quit smoking” and “monitoring the sale of tobacco products.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional reasoning (“if any activity is illegal…”) and a contrastive structure beginning “while.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “Smoking is injurious to health and cause” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “The other points to take into account is” has a mismatch between the plural subject and verb. The sentence beginning “The advocates who consider…” is also incomplete as written, and “the person who abides the law” has an unclear grammatical relationship. Review agreement, sentence completeness, and article use, then proofread longer sentences to ensure each clause is correctly connected.

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