Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-15

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)

Smoking is a causative factor for multiple health diseases and health advocates propose that it should be completely banned. I strongly support this proposition because smoking both actively and passively is detrimental for the public.

Active smoking causes lung diseases and breathing difficulties, and releases harmful chemicals into the lungs which cause persistent cough, shortness of breath, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Additionally, it increases the risk of mouth, throat and lung cancer which are associated with poor survival rates. This is because it contains carcinogenic substances and also weakens the immune system of the smokers.

Another contributing factor is that even passive smoke is equally harmful to the surrounding people and puts them in formidable situations. While secondhand smoke causes very similar damage to the nearby people causing asthma and respiratory infections, it also predisposes the inhalers to the risk of cancer. Furthermore, smoking by pregnant women affects unborn babies in their wombs as the toxic waste products travel to the fetus via maternal blood. For instance, in households where adults smoke, the innocent children become victim of the damaging effects of secondhand smoke.

However, some supporters of smoking maintains that smoking is purely an elective decision and most of the product manufacturers display significant warnings to inform users of potential risks. Although the packaging of cigarettes warns users of the harmful impacts, clearly it is not effective enough to motivate them to quit.

In conclusion, I completely agree that smoking should be made illegal not only to curb the harmful effects of active smoking but also to protect innocent people in the close proximity of the smokers who also suffer due to irresponsible smoking practices in their households or public areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have clearly addressed the prompt by taking a firm position in favor of banning smoking. Your arguments regarding the health impacts on both active smokers and those exposed to secondhand smoke are relevant and well-supported. The inclusion of the counter-argument in the fourth paragraph demonstrates a balanced approach, although it could have been more effectively refuted to strengthen your position. Overall, the ideas are well-developed and the response is fully focused on the task requirements throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'However' to guide the reader through your argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions between sentences could be slightly more sophisticated to improve the overall cohesion. Nevertheless, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a good range of vocabulary, using terms like 'causative factor', 'detrimental', 'carcinogenic', and 'predisposes' effectively. There is an awareness of style and collocation, which helps convey your points with precision. While there are some minor word choice issues, such as 'formidable situations' (which is slightly unnatural in this context) and 'supporters of smoking maintains' (a subject-verb agreement error), the vocabulary is sufficient to express complex ideas clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. Most of your sentences are clear and error-free. However, there are a few grammatical slips, such as 'some supporters of smoking maintains' (should be 'maintain') and 'innocent children become victim' (should be 'victims'). Despite these occasional errors, your control over grammar is generally strong, and your punctuation is accurate. The errors do not impede communication, and you demonstrate the ability to construct complex sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.