Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-04

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 4.0)

Making smooking prohibited in public spaces is not the only bway top stop smoking among peoples and other measures should need to be imposed for smooking.

To commence with makig smooking illegal is not a good decision but it could prevent smookinghabiits to down to some extent,But this could lead to grater voilance among people such as fights between public some people ignore rules and higher forces focus on these activities rather than actual crimes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response is only minimally developed and does not fulfil the discussion task: it gives a brief objection to banning smoking in public places but does not explain the opposing view, present other measures, or state a clear personal opinion. The point that enforcement could divert authorities from “actual crimes” is relevant, but it is asserted rather than explained or supported with an example. The response also contains 75 words, so it falls substantially short of the required 250; this leaves too little space to address all parts of the question. To improve, discuss both positions, give your own view, and support each main point with reasons or examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: “To commence with” signals a move into the main point, and the ideas about prohibition and enforcement are connected. However, the response has no developed paragraph structure or clear progression beyond this single point. The contrast introduced by “but” is difficult to follow, and the sentence moves from possible prevention to violence and then to police priorities without clearly showing how these ideas relate. Use separate paragraphs for the two views and your opinion, and connect each reason explicitly to the claim it supports. This would make the argument easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response attempts some topic-related vocabulary, including “prohibited,” “illegal,” “public spaces,” and “rules,” so the reader can identify the general subject. However, spelling errors such as “smooking,” “bway,” “makig,” and “voilance” are frequent and make the writing look uncontrolled. Some expressions are also inaccurate or unnatural: “smokinghabits to down” and “higher forces focus on these activities” do not convey the intended meaning clearly. Build a reliable range of phrases for discussing policy and enforcement, and check spelling and collocations carefully. More precise wording would help communicate the relevant ideas without requiring the reader to infer them.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response includes a simple opening statement and an attempt at a longer sentence with contrast, but grammatical control is inconsistent. For example, “other measures should need to be imposed” uses an incorrect verb pattern, while “it could prevent … but this could lead” has unclear reference and awkward sentence construction. The long sentence beginning “To commence with” also lacks effective punctuation, with a comma splice and inconsistent capitalisation after “extent.” These problems make relationships between ideas harder to understand. Practise forming clear subject–verb sentences and joining clauses with accurate punctuation or conjunctions. Then add a few controlled complex sentences to express reasons and contrasts.

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