Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-07-28

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Smoking can cause serious illnesses and should be made illegal.

To what extent do you agree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 7.0)

The consumption of cigarettes is in vogue nowadays. Therefore, smoking has always remained in debate among people over its effects on humans. Some people believe that it should be made illegal, as it causes illnesses. I strongly believe that it should be illegal due to the tremendous health complications it causes and one of the leading causes of death.

To commence, the most compelling argument to make smoking illegal is health ailments. People, ranging from teenagers to older adults, smoke cigarettes regularly or are exposed to passive smoking; their bodies eventually stop fighting against the harmful substance that they inhale through smoking. Resulting in feeling weak and exhausted, and suffering from breathing problems, even when doing small tasks. For example, the University of California has conducted research on the outcomes of smoking. They concluded that people who smoke suffer from health issues, such as shortness of breath, low sperm count, asthma, cough, etc.

Next to that, another fact that strengthens the statement to make smoking illegal is that it main cause of death. As smoking can make people’s bodies toxic, which impact directly on lungs and heart. In many cases, people lose their lives to lung cancer or through cancer because of the harmful substances inhaled while smoking. In India, the ratio of people dying from smoking effects is 15% compared to non-smokers’ deaths.

To conclude, although smoking can help boost the economy of the nation, I would strongly agree to make it illegal as it is a huge cause of health issues, and in the end, the government has to waste national funds on medical expenses.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response7.0
Coherence and Cohesion7.0
Lexical Resource6.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.5
Overall7.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses the prompt clearly and maintains a consistent position throughout. You have identified two main arguments—health complications and mortality rates—and supported them with examples. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the reference to the University of California is vague, and the statistical claim regarding India lacks context. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting points are more thoroughly explained and logically connected to the main argument. The conclusion introduces a new point about the economy, which is a good attempt at balance, but it could be integrated more smoothly into the body paragraphs to strengthen the overall argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. You use cohesive devices such as 'To commence', 'Next to that', and 'To conclude' to signal transitions. However, some of these transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are instances where the flow between sentences is slightly disjointed, such as the sentence fragment 'Resulting in feeling weak and exhausted'. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring that each sentence flows naturally into the next will enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'tremendous health complications', 'passive smoking', and 'toxic'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'smoking has always remained in debate' (should be 'a subject of debate') and 'it main cause of death' (missing 'is the'). While you attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary, some phrasing feels slightly unnatural. Focusing on more precise collocations and ensuring correct word forms will help you move into the higher band range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('it main cause'), subject-verb agreement issues, and sentence fragments ('Resulting in feeling weak...'). While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they are noticeable and occur throughout the text. To improve, pay closer attention to sentence boundaries and ensure that every sentence has a clear subject and verb. Practicing complex sentence construction while maintaining accuracy will be key to increasing your score.

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