Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-18

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)

Nowadays, smoking has become a concerning issue. Therefore, the majority of individuals claim that it should be banned in all countries. I strongly agree with this notion, I discuss my viewpoints in the upcoming paragraphs.

To commence with, there are various side effects that smoking can have on the body. Primarily, it makes the negative impact on the heart and lungs of the human body. Therefore, due to these health issues, their lifespan becomes shorter. To cite an example, a survey conducted by WHO (World Health Organization) in 2025 revealed that 30% of deaths rate increase due to smoking among people. As a result, authorities should ban the use of smoking and give strict punishment to those who use it.

Moving towards another viewpoint, there are those who consider that adults are deprived of education and jobs if the got the addicition of drugs. In other words, if the youth are deprived of jobs, then they start committing robbery to survive; owing to these issues, all the residents in the cities have to suffer. For instance, the headline of ' The Times New Romes' in 2024 revealed that 56% of the thefts are committed by those who are seriously addicted to smoking. Hence, the government should give strict fines and punishments to them. So that they can learn from their mistakes.

To conclude, I believe that lawmakers should take necessary steps to make the use of smoking illegal, as it has diverse effects on society and on themselves.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position that smoking should be banned. However, the length requirement of 250 words is not met, as the student's response contains only 248 words, which results in a penalty under Task Achievement. While the writer presents relevant ideas regarding health and crime, some points are slightly underdeveloped or rely on overly simplistic generalisations, such as claiming that drug addiction and smoking lead directly to widespread robbery. The position is maintained throughout, but the lack of sufficient word count and slightly limited idea extension keep this criterion at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, two body paragraphs, and conclusion adequately. The writer uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'Moving towards another viewpoint', and 'To conclude'. However, some referencing is slightly faulty or mechanical, and the transitional phrases feel a bit formulaic. Paragraph progression is logical, moving from health consequences to social impacts, but the over-reliance on rigid signposting prevents the score from reaching a higher band. Overall, coherence and cohesion meet the Band 6.0 descriptors well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'concerning issue', 'lifespan', and 'addiction'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'if the got the addicition' instead of 'if they got the addiction', and the awkward newspaper title 'The Times New Romes'. Spelling and word formation errors, such as 'deaths rate increase', occur but do not heavily impede communication. This performance aligns comfortably with the Band 6.0 descriptors for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text, such as comma splices ('I strongly agree with this notion, I discuss my viewpoints') and subject-verb agreement issues ('if the got the addicition'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 7.0. Control over grammar is moderate, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptor.

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

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