Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-10
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 6.0)
Nowadays, the amount of populous consuming harmful products are increasing day by day and one of them is cigarettes. Many people say that the proper way to demoralize smoking is to ban it at community space. Whereas, others say that it is not sufficient and various actions are needed. Here, I will discuss both the views and will provide my opinion later on.
On one side, banning cigarettes in public places can be beneficial in many ways. Firstly, it reduces the amount of passive smoking for individuals. Secondly, there are individuals with various allergies and one of them is the smell of cigarettes. Many older generation suffer from Asthma and this initiative can help them to suffer less while in public areas. Additionally, youngsters will not take smoking as a trend to follow when they will not see many people smoking in public.
On the other side, this one step is not going to be enough as smokers can find their way to smoke at various space. one of them can be backyard of their house or terrace. At that point nobody can ask them to stop. Moreover, marketing of such products on televisions should be banned as well, and, there should be ban for selling such products as well. There should be strong legal law to stop this negative trend.
In my opinion, higher authorities should take some serious actions towards public smokers and create a law which makes the smoker importance of self awareness as well as public safety as well.
To conclude, first step to discourage smoking can be ban of cigarette smoking in public and then there should be more laws and strict actions to reduce the number of smokers in society by organizing public awareness camps.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While the benefits of banning smoking in public are mentioned, the discussion on 'other measures' is a bit brief and lacks depth. The conclusion is a bit repetitive, and the final suggestion regarding 'public awareness camps' is introduced too late to be fully explored. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your arguments with more specific examples or logical consequences, ensuring that each point is fully developed before moving to the next.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'Additionally', and 'On the other side'. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and there are occasional issues with referencing and sentence flow, such as 'At that point nobody can ask them to stop'. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their intended antecedents.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, but there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors. For example, 'populous consuming harmful products' is unnatural; 'population' or 'number of people' would be better. Similarly, 'demoralize smoking' is incorrect; 'discourage' or 'deter' would be more appropriate. Phrases like 'community space' and 'strong legal law' are slightly imprecise. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, you need to focus on using more natural collocations and precise terminology to move into the higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'the amount of populous consuming... are increasing' (subject-verb agreement), 'when they will not see' (tense usage), and 'there should be ban' (missing article). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some awkward phrasings that slightly impede the flow of reading. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, correct article usage, and ensuring that your complex sentences are constructed accurately without losing clarity.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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