Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-19

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 5.5)

Smoking has been greatly affecting the life of the people and for discourage them to avoid, is quite a difficult task. While some people say that to make it illegal in public places is the best way to reduce its use among people, but I believe that we should find more suitable options to decrease its consumption.

Firstly, the another solution is to charge the inclusive amount of fines and penalties on the buyers and sellers. By conducting proper inspection of retailer shops on regular basis, government can significantly make a barrier on the sale of cigeratte. Additionally, State should cancel the license of shop owners if they do not obey the rules and regulations. In result, It will make a great chnge in the society.

Moreover, the another measure that officials can take is to educate local public about the health issues ranging from lung cancer, heart disease, and asthima problem. This guidance can be made by using the public seminars, various advertisements on social media, T.V, and newspapers. Politicle parties, with their motivational speech, can discourage people for smoking.

However, making smoke illegal is also an effective way as it offers us to hinder the use of ciggeratte. If government totally makes it illegal in the public places it gradually decreases the air pollution and helps to create sustainability in the country. However, in this way we cannot stop people for to use it. Instead of avoiding in public places, government should create healthy practices for people such as providing gym, meditation facilties, park,which can help people to do exercies on regular basis

To summarise, there are many ways from introducing fines to educate people to avoid people for smoking. however the way of doing it illegal do not appears a genuine option.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—making smoking illegal in public places versus needing additional measures—and provides a clear personal position throughout. In the introduction, you state your belief that we should find more suitable options, and this is carried through the body paragraphs where you explore fines, retail regulations, education, and health facilities. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or expressed with limited depth. For example, when discussing making smoking illegal, the connection to air pollution and sustainability is introduced but lacks full extension. Nevertheless, your stance is distinct and the core task requirements are adequately fulfilled, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph-by-paragraph structure that separates the different ideas. You make use of standard cohesive devices and transition words such as 'Firstly', 'Additionally', 'Moreover', and 'However' to guide the reader through your arguments. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, phrases like 'the another solution' or 'the another measure' contain grammatical errors in referencing. Paragraphing is present and separates distinct thoughts, but the logical progression between sentences occasionally stumbles due to awkward phrasing. These features place your coherence and cohesion firmly at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your ideas about smoking regulations, health issues, and public education. You attempt less common lexical items such as 'sustainability', 'inclusive amount of fines', and 'regulations', but these are accompanied by notable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'cigeratte' and 'asthima problem'. There are also frequent spelling slips throughout the text, including 'chnge' instead of change and 'ciggeratte'. While communication is not severely impeded, the presence of these errors and the limited precision in vocabulary choice prevent the essay from reaching higher bands, making Band 5.5 a fair representation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures ('If government totally makes it illegal...'). However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing that affect readability. Examples include preposition and article errors ('for discourage them', 'on regular basis', 'by using the public seminars'), incorrect verb complements ('stop people for to use it'), and subject-verb agreement issues. Although these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur persistently across the text. Because complex structures are frequently faulty and minor errors are very common, this performance corresponds to a Band 5.0.

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

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