Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-07-24

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 6.0)

As humans evolved so did their habits both good habits and the bad ones. In today’s world people tend to have very mixed views on smoking in this essay I will be discussing both sides of the views weather smoking should be illegal in public places or that other measures are needed and will give my opinion as well.

To begin with some people think that habits are a reflection of a person’s personality so they tend to judge them based on their habits and this sometimes leads to some differences. It is thought by a group of people that smoking should be made illegal in public places and it is discouraged to smoke.

On there other hand another group of people think that banning smoking in public places is not enough and other ways to discourage people from smoking should be explored, well there are other ways to do so by introducing workshops and camps to educate people from all different age groups on the effects of smoking on their health and wellbeing.

I personally have never been a fan of smoking as I lost a very dear family member due to smoking at a very young age, it was my uncle who passed away because of it and it was quiet hard for me to watch him suffer in his final months as he was diagnosed with cancer that was caused by smoking.

In my opinion I think that at the end of the day smoking does not do any good to our bodies and it is bad for health and it should be banned in public places as it can cause passive smoking and harm to people around.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The essay addresses both views and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the prompt. However, the development of ideas is quite limited. The arguments for both sides are brief and lack depth; for instance, the suggestion of 'workshops and camps' is mentioned but not explained or supported with examples. The personal anecdote is relevant but occupies a significant portion of the essay, which detracts from the analytical depth required for a balanced discussion. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'why' and 'how' of your arguments, providing more detailed reasoning for why public bans might be insufficient compared to educational measures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Transitions like 'To begin with' and 'On there other hand' are standard, but there is a lack of sophisticated linking between sentences and ideas. Some sentences feel disconnected, and the flow is occasionally interrupted by repetitive phrasing. Improving the use of referencing (e.g., using pronouns or synonyms to avoid repeating 'smoking' or 'habits') and employing a wider variety of linking words would improve the logical progression of your arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You frequently use simple terms like 'good', 'bad', and 'ways'. While the meaning is clear, there is little attempt to use less common or more precise vocabulary related to the topic (e.g., 'public health initiatives', 'legislation', 'addiction', 'deterrent'). There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'weather' instead of 'whether' and 'quiet' instead of 'quite'. To improve, focus on incorporating topic-specific collocations and avoiding repetitive, simplistic adjectives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as punctuation issues (missing commas in long sentences), run-on sentences, and minor errors in verb agreement. For example, 'As humans evolved so did their habits both good habits and the bad ones' lacks necessary punctuation to clarify the structure. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score. You should focus on mastering basic sentence punctuation and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately.

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