Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-01

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 widely recognized as a major cause of life-threatening diseases including lung, heart, and respiratory disorders; therefore, some argue that it should be prohibited by law. Although I strongly concur that smoking should be strictly controlled, I do not believe that an outright ban would be the most practical solution.

One compelling reason is that the considerable harm caused to smokers and individuals around them. Tobacco contains numerous toxic substances, and long-term smokers are significantly more likely to develop life-threatening diseases. Furthermore, passive smoking can also damage the health of non-smokers, particularly children. For instance, governments have a legitimate reason to introduce measures such as higher tobacco taxes, health warnings and smoking bans in public places. These policies can discourage people from taking up the habit while protecting others from smoke.

Nevertheless, making cigarettes completely illegal could create several issues. Initially, prohibition may encourage a black market in which numerous tobacco products are available through uncertified channels and potentially rise criminal activities. To sum up, many smokers are addicted to nicotine and may find it extremely difficult to quit immediately. Moreover, governments should provide effective programs and public education. Treating addiction solely as a criminal issue may be counterproductive. Whereas reducing smoking is undoubtedly essential, individuals should also be given appropriate support to overcome their dependence.

In conclusion, although smoking poses a serious public health issue; consequently, the government should enforce strong restriction on smoking. I believe rather than imposing a full ban, a combination of supporting public education, higher taxes, and shared places in which smoking should be allowed would be a perfect approach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, acknowledging the seriousness of smoking-related illnesses while arguing against a total ban in favor of pragmatic alternatives. The ideas are generally well-selected, but some are slightly under-developed or briefly stated. For instance, the paragraph discussing the black market and criminal activities mentions that uncertified channels would emerge, but it does not fully extend this point with specific examples or deeper analysis. To reach the next level, the writer needs to ensure that every main idea is fully expanded with supporting explanations or detailed consequences rather than shifting quickly to another point, such as introducing the need for addiction support right after mentioning the black market.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a definitive conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes, such as the harms of smoking, the dangers of prohibition, and alternative solutions. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, featuring connectors like 'Furthermore', 'Nevertheless', and 'In conclusion'. However, some cohesive referencing and transitions are a bit mechanical or slightly faulty, such as the sentence fragment 'One compelling reason is that the considerable harm caused...' which lacks a main verb clause. To achieve a higher band, the transitions between sentences could be smoothed out to make the flow more natural and unobtrusive throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'life-threatening diseases', 'uncertified channels', and 'counterproductive'. Meaning is communicated clearly despite some word choice and collocation inaccuracies. For example, the phrase 'rise criminal activities' is incorrect, as 'rise' is an intransitive verb and should be replaced with 'increase' or 'give rise to'. Additionally, the phrase 'shared places in which smoking should be allowed' in the conclusion is slightly awkward in collocation. To elevate the lexical score, the writer should focus on mastering less common collocations and ensuring greater precision in word forms to avoid minor lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and conditional-like arguments effectively. There are some noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, but they rarely impede communication. Examples include a fragmented structure in the second paragraph ('One compelling reason is that the considerable harm caused to smokers...') and punctuation misuse with semicolons and transitional adverbs, such as '...public health issue; consequently, the government should enforce...' where a comma or subordinating conjunction would be more appropriate. To reach the next band, the writer must demonstrate better control over complex grammatical patterns and punctuation, reducing the frequency of structural errors to achieve more error-free sentences.

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