Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-08

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 6.0)

In this contemporary era, people are increasingly becoming drug addicted due to the widespread availability of drugs in local shops. Some argue that smoking place a detrimental impact of health and cause severe diseases. Thus, the government should make it illegal. I firmly agree with this view, as smoking causes substantial and far-reaching health issues among smokers.

First compelling reason is that it place huge financial loss on individuals. It has been witnessed that smoking is one of the prevalent addiction that many individuals have and they cannot stand without smoking. While cigarettes are quite expensive, they are still being excessively consumed by the smokers and huge amount of income is being wasted on purchasing such items, leaving little money to survive daily expenses.

Another significant factor is that many smokers are facing serious health conditions such as Mouth Cancer, Lungs cancer and Asthma which costs a substantial amount of money for treatments. Despite knowing the consequences of smoking, it is still one of the common addiction that many people have. For instance, statics shows that in America, most of the residents waste one half of their hard earned income on smoking. Apart from this it raises the familial issue. There are several kinds of cigarettes which makes people unconscious such as weed, making them to do unethical things and not taking family responsibilities. As a result, it gradually weaken the familial bonds and raise the chances of separation.

In conclusion, Smoking has become one of the prevalent issue among people and contributes to the serious health related problems. Therefore, government should introduce stricter regulation to make it illegal which can assist to curb this issue and it promotes sustain lives.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the financial and health arguments are relevant, the inclusion of 'weed' and 'unconscious' behavior shifts the focus away from the prompt's specific topic of 'smoking' (typically referring to tobacco) toward general drug abuse. This weakens the argument's focus. The examples provided, such as the claim that residents in America waste half their income on smoking, lack credibility and appear to be generalizations rather than well-supported evidence. To improve, ensure that arguments remain strictly focused on the specific topic and provide more plausible, logical support for your claims.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First compelling reason', 'Another significant factor', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the logical flow within paragraphs is occasionally interrupted by awkward phrasing or leaps in logic, such as the sudden transition from health costs to the impact of 'weed' on family life. Referencing is generally clear, but the connection between sentences could be smoother to achieve a more natural, sophisticated flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'detrimental', 'prevalent', and 'curb', which is positive. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'drug addicted' instead of 'addicted to drugs', 'place a detrimental impact of health' instead of 'on health', and 'statical shows' (likely meant 'statistics show'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'smoking place', 'it place', 'it contribute') and article usage. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors in capitalization (e.g., 'Mouth Cancer', 'Lungs cancer'). The errors are frequent enough to be noticeable, though they rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended meaning. To reach a higher band, focus on consistent subject-verb agreement and refining the use of articles.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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