Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-07-25

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)

Some people believe that the most suitable way of stop smoking is to ban the smoking in public places, while others argue that there are some others proper ways to reduce habit of smoking. I strongly believe that making smoking illegal is not enough. government and health authorities should implement health education program, and increase the tax on cigarette.

On the one hand, if smoking is prohibited in public places, many people habit of smoking would change in positive way. Some individuals used to smoke while they are waiting at the bus stop or train station because some times people cannot stop smoking even though they wanted to do that. Therefore, making such rules would help to avoid this bad habit. For instance, many men use cigarette as a method of warming themselves in winter season when they are waiting outside their home or workplace. So, banning smoking in public places discourage them to use it.

On the other hand, some people believe that public awareness campaign can make a significant positive changes among smokers, as many heavy smokers do not aware about negative consequences and nowadays, it can be done using social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Governments have major responsibility because they can increase tax on such unnecessary things and it indirectly reduces the burden on government hospital in long term.

In my opinion, I strongly believe changing rules such as making smoking illegal is not the best way. Making people aware about the health hazard that cause by smoking and increasing the price of cigarette is the other suitable method to discourage not only public places but also in other places.

To conclude, some people believe that to demotivate the habit of smoking, is the best way as it help significantly reduce the habit. others argue

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. The first body paragraph provides a specific example regarding winter, but the second body paragraph is more general. The conclusion is incomplete, as the final sentence cuts off abruptly, which affects the overall task completion. To improve, ensure that all arguments are fully extended with clear examples and that the conclusion provides a comprehensive summary of the points discussed without being truncated.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'For instance' are used to link ideas. However, the referencing is occasionally mechanical, and the abrupt ending of the essay significantly disrupts the flow and coherence of the final section. Improving the transition between sentences and ensuring that the conclusion is fully developed would help achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at using topic-specific vocabulary like 'prohibited', 'public awareness campaign', and 'negative consequences'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'stop smoking' instead of 'stopping smoking' and 'do not aware' instead of 'are not aware'. Expanding the range of vocabulary to include more precise academic collocations would enhance the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('many people habit of smoking would change'), article usage ('the smoking'), and verb forms ('that cause by smoking'). Punctuation is also inconsistent in places. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and ensure that complex structures are formed correctly to avoid impeding the reader's understanding.

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