Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-17

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)

Smoking is always a menace for society. It is affecting the life of individuals in numerous ways. I certainly agree with the statement that smoking leads to various cardiovascular diseases and should be banned by the government.

Smoking has detrimental effects on both the active smokers and the passive smokers. Mostly individuals smoke in public places or around their families or friends and this practice can cause issues to them as well because they are inhaling the same harmful air with them. Moreover, smoking cigarettes or being in such environment can cause diseases especially associated with lungs such as lung cancer and asthma. This is because lungs are the major organs involved in the smoking. Additionally, teenagers are also addicted to smoking e-cigarettes known as 'vapes'. These vapes are the modern version of traditional cigarettes and are destroying the life and health of the young generation in the same way.

All these tobacco products such as cigarettes, vapes and nicotine tablets should be banned by the government and they should run awareness campaigns to educate the population regarding its harmful outcomes. This should be done through TV adverts, social media, posters, and education camps in neighborhoods. Additionally, individuals who are smoking in public should be heavily penalized by law enforcement authorities. Consequently, this could contribute towards better and healthy lifestyles of citizens and reduce stress on the healthcare system. For example, prohibited sales and declaring trade of tobacco products illegal significantly reduced the cancer cases in India.

To sum up, the consumption of tobacco can negatively affect individuals and their families. Authorities should ban the sale of such products and raise awareness among individuals. Therefore, I believe a balanced approach, combining careful planning with strong and strict laws against tobacco, is the most practical solution.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have clearly addressed the prompt by taking a firm position in favor of banning smoking. Your ideas are relevant and well-supported, particularly in the second paragraph where you discuss the impact on passive smokers and the youth. The third paragraph provides practical solutions, such as awareness campaigns and legal penalties, which strengthens your argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting examples are more precise; for instance, the reference to India could be more specific regarding the policy or timeframe to make the argument more persuasive. Overall, the response is well-developed and maintains a consistent position 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 'Moreover', 'Additionally', and 'Consequently' to link your ideas effectively. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the problem from the proposed solutions. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions could be more sophisticated to avoid a slightly mechanical feel. For example, the link between the health risks of vaping and the call for a government ban could be tightened to improve the overall progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'detrimental effects', 'cardiovascular diseases', and 'penalized'. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'always a menace' (which is slightly unnatural) and 'involved in the smoking' (which is grammatically awkward). You attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary related to health and public policy, which is effective. To improve, focus on more precise collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. Expanding your range of academic vocabulary will help you move into the higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'Mostly individuals smoke' (should be 'Most individuals') and 'inhaling the same harmful air with them' (should be 'inhaling the same harmful air as smokers'). Additionally, 'destroying the life and health' is slightly imprecise. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing your control over complex sentence structures and ensuring subject-verb agreement will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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