Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-14

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)

Few individuals argue that smoking should be banned in public areas and it is the good way to discourage smoking, but others said that we have to do somthing else rather then banning smoking. I opine that government should do more initiatives to stop smoking. I will discuss both views and my opinion in the forthcoming paragraphs.

To commence with, if fedral bodies make smoking illegal in social places, while traveling from one place to another for their work, people get less time for smoking, which is good for other non- smokers. To elaborate this, smoking not only put deterimental impact on smokers but also on other people who do not like smoking, if authorities put some restrictions that would be good for other massess. Moreover, a person spend more time in these areas then owing to strict law, he is unable to do smoking, so with passage of time the habbit of smoking will reduce. Accorging to the report of "The Tribune Newspaper", in India, about 30% people left the habbit of smoking as it was banned over there. As a result, it is really beneficial if government make smoking illegal in public places.

On the other hand, if higher figures should introdueces new laws such as no shopkeeper sell the cigarettes to customers who are under the age group of 18. Additionally, they organise campaigns and some seminars in schools and other workplaces to aware the poblic about outcomes of smoking and how to overcome the use of smoking. To explain this, when sellers are not giving the cigarettes to young ones they do not addicted to that bad habbit in their younger age. Also, when higer authorities give awareness to general public through television, radios, schools and other seminars about the results of that bad habbit, then they definitely quit smoking.

To conclude this, I opine that it is good if smoking is to make smoking illegal in public places. but government should adopt other ways like

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and state your position, especially in the introduction: “government should do more initiatives to stop smoking.” The first body paragraph explains how public-place restrictions could protect non-smokers and reduce opportunities to smoke, while the second proposes age limits and awareness campaigns. However, the position becomes unclear in the conclusion, which begins by supporting a ban but ends unfinished at “government should adopt other ways like”. This also leaves your opinion and discussion incomplete. Some support is asserted rather than explained: the newspaper statistic is not connected to a clear source or further reasoning, and the proposed measures could be compared more directly. Develop the conclusion and explain how the measures work together to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding section. Linking phrases such as “To commence with,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” help signal the stages of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: the first paragraph repeats that restrictions benefit non-smokers and reduce smoking, while the second repeats the idea that awareness leads people to quit. Some links are awkward or do not clearly express the relationship between ideas, and the conclusion is cut off, disrupting the overall flow. Organise each body paragraph around one main claim, then add a clear explanation or example, and complete the final paragraph with a concise summary of your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “restrictions,” “campaigns,” “awareness,” and “illegal,” and you use some topic-specific expressions such as “public places” and “under the age group of 18.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make parts difficult to understand. For example, “higher figures” does not clearly mean government authorities, “to aware the public” is not a natural expression, and “outcomes of smoking” is less suitable than a phrase describing its harmful effects. Spelling errors such as “somthing,” “deterimental,” and “Accorging” are also noticeable. Build a bank of accurate topic collocations and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if authorities put some restrictions” and clauses beginning with “when.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur frequently enough to make some ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “smoking not only put” and “a person spend,” where the verb does not agree with its subject, and “they organise campaigns” after “should,” where the verb form is incorrect. The final sentence is also incomplete, and punctuation around “but” in the conclusion is problematic. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, correct verb forms after modal verbs, and complete sentence boundaries.

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