Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-04

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)

It is widely acknowledged that humanity is fighting numerous harmful habits that further lead to certain diseases. Since the tremendous cause that effects human body dangerously is smoking, it should be banned completely. Without a doubt, it causes a severe issue, while I believe that employment and revenue associated with this should not be avoided, and should not be made illegal completely.

To begin with, daily smoking habit is not only bad for smokers but also for passive smokers because of this body faces detrimental causes. To illustrate, T.B is mainly causing due to smoking. As a result, Lungs shrinks and causing breathing issues. This issue is also affecting non-smokers as they actively inhales affected air while someone besides them smoke. Therefore, smoking is the prime reason for unhealthy society, and should be banned.

Nevertheless, although uncurable diseases occur due to smoking, it also generates a revenue for government as well as assist to decline the unemployment rate from the community. For example, in India, cigerate factories did the business for 5 billions alone alongside provided jobs to more than 100 thousands people in a particular year. Consequently, this is certainly decreasing burden from government's shoulders since this is helping to foster the societal development positively. Therefore, smoking should not made illegal completely, but yes, with the state intervention it should allow in designated areas. So, the non-smokers would not get any symptoms from it.

In conclusion, as smoking is beneficial for the government, I believe it should be limited but not banned completely.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, presenting a clear position that smoking should be regulated rather than banned entirely. The ideas are relevant, covering both the health risks and the economic arguments. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the claim that smoking causes tuberculosis is medically inaccurate and lacks nuance. The economic argument regarding government revenue is better developed but remains somewhat superficial. To reach a higher band, you should provide more precise examples and ensure that your supporting arguments are factually sound and logically robust throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a logical progression from the health risks to the economic benefits and finally to a balanced conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Nevertheless', and 'Consequently' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'since this is helping to foster the societal development positively'. Improving the variety and naturalness of your linking words would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'detrimental', 'passive smokers', and 'designated areas'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'tremendous cause that effects human body' (should be 'affects') and 'cigerate factories did the business' (should be 'generated revenue'). Additionally, there are minor spelling errors like 'cigerate'. While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the score. To improve, focus on using collocations more accurately and expanding your range of academic vocabulary to express complex ideas with greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'Lungs shrinks' (should be 'Lungs shrink') and 'the prime reason for unhealthy society' (should be 'an unhealthy society'). Furthermore, there are issues with verb forms, such as 'should not made illegal' (should be 'should not be made illegal'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points. Increasing your control over basic grammatical structures will help you achieve a higher score.

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

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