Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-02

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)

Many people say that smoking should be banned in public places which can help discourage smoking and others say it is not enough and insist on stricter measures. I believe that stricter measures are much required in a society to stop smoking.

Firstly, government should employ harsher laws on smoking in public areas. They should introduce fines and/or ban on the person entering in future. This can help people who are having issues with others smoking in public. Many places like parks, playgrounds, restaurants or events consists of families, handicap or individuals with health issues, children and even babies and smoking in areas which has a crowd like this can be very harmful or sometimes even life threating. For instance, me and my friends were in a public event and a person sitting in front of us was smoking without any consideration and one of us has asthma. This caused a huge problem for him in the event and we had to call the security personnel to stop the person from smoking.

Secondly, the increasing number of health issues from smoking are at the highest. So, enforcing strict laws can discourage smokers for their own benefit. Also, the smoke and ash from cigarettes in public can increase health risks to non-smokers as well. With the help of these laws government can prevent the youth from getting influenced to smoking and obey the rules.

Even though, some may say that it can be difficult to implement these laws at once and should go ahead with leaner measures first. I strongly stand with my opinion with following stricter laws in public areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of health risks and the need for stricter enforcement. However, the development is somewhat limited. While you mention that banning smoking in public is not enough, you do not explicitly detail what those 'other measures' might be, other than implying stricter enforcement of existing laws. To reach a higher band, you should expand on alternative strategies, such as public awareness campaigns, higher taxation, or cessation support programs. The position is consistent throughout, but the depth of argument could be improved by exploring the counter-arguments more thoroughly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Even though' to signal transitions. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing could be more sophisticated. For example, in the second paragraph, the transition between the general argument and your personal anecdote is a bit abrupt. To improve, try to use a wider variety of linking words and ensure that the progression of ideas within paragraphs is smoother by using more varied cohesive ties rather than relying on simple sequence markers.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'stricter measures', 'enforcing', and 'consideration'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'life threating' (should be 'life-threatening') and 'consists of families' (should be 'consist of families' or 'include families'). You also use 'handicap' as a noun to describe people, which is outdated; 'people with disabilities' is the preferred term. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing. Expanding your vocabulary related to policy and social issues would also be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For instance, 'government should employ' (missing an article: 'the government'), 'ban on the person entering' (awkward phrasing), and 'me and my friends were' (should be 'my friends and I were'). Additionally, there are issues with subject-verb agreement, such as 'areas which has a crowd' (should be 'areas which have a crowd'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for articles, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement.

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