Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

A section of society firmly believes that nicotine should be banned in public areas; it would be the best way to control smoking. Whereas other people think that, apart from banning, more steps are needed to discourage this activity. This essay will discuss both points of view in the subsequent paragraphs along with my viewpoint.

Smoking is injurious to health. Many people feel that people who smoke in public encourage others to smoke. This not only encourages people to smoke but also creates health issues for non-smokers. For instance, smoke from cigarettes impacts others who are near smokers. Society believes that smoking should not be allowed in public areas, and the government need to make such activity illegal in public. Hence, others think this is not the only way to discourage it.

People believe that the government needs to consider other ways to make smoking illegal, such as imposing high taxes on the companies that manufacture cigarettes and vape companies so that their manufacturing can be difficult and, at the same time hard for normal people to purchase such products. If affordability is an issue, fewer people will purchase smoking products; as a result, smoking will be controlled. Moreover, there should be some awareness camps organized by the government where they address the health impacts of smoking; in this way, it will discourage people from smoking, and I totally agree with this.

In a nutshell, making smoking illegal in common areas is not the only solution to discourage people from smoking. The government should impose a heavy duty on smoking products producers so that affordabilty become issue additionaly, needs to organize campaigns where people can understand how bad it is for them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and make your position clear: the essay explains why public smoking should be prohibited, then argues that taxation and awareness campaigns are also needed. The points about second-hand smoke and making cigarettes less affordable are relevant, and the conclusion restates your view. However, the two sides are not developed equally: the case for banning smoking in public is supported mainly by a brief reference to health effects, while the proposed taxes and campaigns receive more explanation. Some reasoning also needs greater precision—for example, taxing manufacturers is said to make products harder for “normal people” to purchase, but the link between company taxes and retail prices is not explained. Develop each view with a specific example or clearer cause-and-effect reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a concluding summary. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Moreover,” and “as a result” help show relationships between points. This already gives the essay a coherent flow. At times, however, connections feel mechanical or unclear. The opening “Whereas” sentence is not smoothly joined to the preceding sentence, and “Hence, others think this is not the only way” does not clearly identify who “others” are or how the point follows. The conclusion also compresses several ideas into one sentence. Use clearer transitions and references, and make sure each paragraph develops one main point before moving to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “public areas,” “health impacts,” “imposing high taxes,” and “awareness camps.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “discourage this activity” and “manufacture cigarettes.” However, some word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise, which limits clarity and naturalness. “A section of society” is less natural than “some members of society,” while “heavy duty on smoking products producers” is unclear and would be better expressed as “a substantial tax on tobacco manufacturers.” Spelling errors such as “affordabilty” and “additionaly” also detract from accuracy. Aim for precise, natural collocations and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including conditional reasoning in “If affordability is an issue, fewer people will purchase smoking products” and a relative clause in “where they address the health impacts.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “the government need” should be “the government needs,” and “affordability become issue” needs a subject–verb agreement correction and an article: “affordability becomes an issue.” The opening fragment beginning “Whereas” is also not joined correctly to the previous sentence. In addition, the final sentence contains several ideas joined without clear grammatical structure. Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, while continuing to practise complex sentences.

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