Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-10

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 6.5)

It is widely acknowledged that smoking causes serious illness to human beings. Some people are of the view that it should be banned completely. This essay will discuss reasons behind why some people support the given viewpoint before explaining why I believe that complete ban will not address the issue effectively.

The main reason why many individuals around the world think of banning smoking products is health issues. If individuals smoke cigarettes, they are highly likely to suffer from dangerous illness. To illustrate, people who smoke regularly often suffer from lung problems and some other disorders. Similarly, passive smokers such as children and elderly people also get affected because of the passive smoke. Hence, supporter of the given viewpoint believe that this would be an effective idea to solve the problem.

Moreover, complete ban of tobacco products could have some negative impacts on nations' economy. There products are often considered with higher tax range, which helps the government to generate some additional income. If it gets banned, the government might have to suffer major losses as there. In addition, some smokers cannot live without smoking. If it gets banned, they will try to buy it at a higher rate from a black market. As a result, black market will become a major issue for the government as it will be difficult for them to find individuals involved in such activities.

To sum up, although completely ban can help to resolve this problem at some point, I believe it should not be banned completely. Instead, the government can limit these products by imposing a higher tax, raising awareness to help smokers to quit from this bad habit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The essay addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that smoking should not be made illegal. The ideas are relevant, such as the economic impact of taxes and the potential for a black market. However, the development of these points is somewhat limited. For example, the discussion on the 'black market' is brief and could be further extended with more specific consequences. The position is consistent throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main arguments while offering a balanced alternative. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more depth and specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'To illustrate', 'Similarly', 'Moreover', and 'In addition' are used effectively to link sentences and ideas. However, there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the phrase 'There products are often considered with higher tax range', which is slightly awkward. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate, and the logical flow is maintained throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'widely acknowledged' and 'passive smokers'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'considered with higher tax range' instead of 'subject to higher taxes' and 'quit from this bad habit' instead of 'quit this bad habit'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise control over collocations and idiomatic phrasing to reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is a good attempt at using conditional sentences, such as 'If individuals smoke cigarettes, they are highly likely to suffer...'. However, there are several grammatical slips, including 'supporter of the given viewpoint believe' (subject-verb agreement) and 'although completely ban' (incorrect word form). Punctuation is generally accurate, but the sentence structure occasionally feels slightly repetitive. To improve, focus on reducing minor errors in subject-verb agreement and ensuring consistent use of articles and word forms.

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