Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Smoking is harmful for all the organs in the human body. A part of generation asserts that ban of smoking at public places is an effective way to discourage smoking, while other part of generation believes in some other measures to reduce smoking. Laws made to smoking cessation are helpful, in addition to this several other steps can prove more beneficial. this essay will delve into both the above mention notions and will provide my opinion to give more important to other measures.

To begin with, the first view candidly believes that making smoking illegal in public places such as bus stand, railway station airport etc plays crucial role in reducing the smoking at a very large scale. Serious action taken against people who are addicted of smoking and do it in public places encourage others to leave this bade habit. For instance, an article given in 'Times of India' explains than In Europe there is a reduction of smokers by 40% just because of the strict legal laws made by the govenment against smoking. Therefore, legal laws has been proven as an effective way of reducing smoking in a particular place.

On thee others hand, many people believe in other measures like advertisment on social media application, plays to show the harmful effects of smoking amd many more. Usnig these measures one can understrand that smoking in bad not only for their but also for the persons living around them. Various seminars can be conducted to make people understand about numerous diseases caused by smoking. Thus people will get aware about the cetastophic effects of smoking and leave it as soon as possible.

In conclusion, smoking can be discouraged by combined effecte of both administration and public to save many lives. It is duty of everyone to follow laws and aviod smoking.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both views and give a clear preference for additional measures, especially in the introduction and conclusion. The discussion of public-place bans includes an example and explains how enforcement might discourage others, while the second view mentions social-media advertising, plays and seminars. However, the ideas are not developed evenly: the second paragraph lists measures but gives little detail about how they would change behaviour, and the example about a 40% reduction is not explained or connected clearly to the wider effect of a ban. Your final opinion also shifts towards a combined approach, whereas the introduction says other measures are more important. Make your position consistent and explain each main point with a specific, relevant example or consequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two views, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the discussion. However, some linking is mechanical, and connections between ideas are occasionally unclear. For example, “Laws made to smoking cessation are helpful, in addition to this…” joins two points awkwardly, while “Therefore” introduces a conclusion that does not fully follow from the example. The second body paragraph also moves quickly from advertising to plays and seminars without showing how these points relate. Use clearer sentence boundaries and develop one idea before moving to the next; ensure references such as “these measures” have an unmistakable antecedent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “harmful effects,” “strict legal laws,” “addicted,” and “numerous diseases,” so the topic is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “discourage smoking” and “catastrophic effects.” However, word choice, collocation and spelling are often inaccurate, which makes some expressions awkward or unclear: “a part of generation,” “leave this bade habit,” and “advertisment on social media application” are examples. Several words are also repeated, particularly “smoking” and “measures.” Build accuracy by learning common collocations for laws, enforcement and public-health campaigns, and proofread spelling. More precise vocabulary would help express your ideas without relying on broad or unnatural phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple statements and attempts at longer, more complex sentences, including clauses beginning “while” and “because.” This gives the response some structural variety. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to make parts difficult to read. For example, “legal laws has been proven” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “this essay will delve…” begins a sentence without a capital letter. The sentence beginning “On thee others hand” also contains several grammatical problems that obscure its structure. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a clearly attached supporting clause, then check agreement, articles and punctuation during proofreading.

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