Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-28

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)

Smoking is injurious to health. Many people loose their lives daily due its harmful effects. It has become one of the primary reasons for serious concerns to lung health and a cause to major cancers. With people smoking in public, people around them are forced to inhale the same air, making them passive smokers. Therefore, it necessary to create a division in public space for the smokers and the non-smokers.

Making smoking illegal in public places is good option to consider. It conserves smoking areas to a limited space, making it non-distributive. This reduced visibility to a smoking environment not only benefits the non smokers, it also helps in reducing it's access to the youth and getting influenced.

Although making smoking illegal in public places has a few benefits but it does not deal with the most critical concern of the people which is health. Banning something from public places does not mean it couldn't be done in private. Most public places have found a solution by creating a private smoking rooms in public places. This helps none in reducing ciggarette consumption.

Since banning smoking isn't enough, there is need to get more measures. In order to keep the youth away from this filth, selling of ciggarretes distribution should be made discouraged in public and selling them to only p a valid ID statign them as mature. Also companies prduciogn cigeeretes should be regulated and alsed to made les toxic options. Also initiatives shoudl be taken in socity to hold gathering in order to aware on halful; effects of smoking and hold session for ptential smokers who want to quit. Smoking is a very halmfulhabit and leavign it is the bes thing a person can do for its own helath so precautions hould be take with utmost care.

AI examiner evaluation

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 uneven. While the first view is discussed, the second view—that more measures are needed—is presented as a list of suggestions rather than a cohesive argument. The points regarding youth access and public awareness are relevant, but they lack depth and specific examples to fully support the argument. The position is clear throughout, but the essay would benefit from more detailed explanations of why these additional measures would be more effective than public bans alone.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally repetitive. For instance, the frequent use of 'Also' to start sentences in the final paragraph makes the flow feel a bit disjointed. Referencing is generally clear, but the transition between the discussion of public bans and the need for further measures could be smoother to improve the overall logical flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There are several spelling errors, such as 'loose' instead of 'lose', 'ciggarette', 'prduciogn', and 'halful'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'passive smokers' and 'toxic options', the overall range is limited. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling and incorporating more sophisticated collocations to express ideas more fluently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Examples include 'a cause to major cancers' (should be 'a cause of'), 'it necessary' (missing 'is'), 'it's access' (incorrect possessive), and 'selling of ciggarretes distribution should be made discouraged'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence construction prevents the writing from reaching a higher band score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.