Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-17

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)

The debate about smoking and it's severe effects on ill health has been a major issue of public concern. Even more disturbing is the proliferation of the product like cigarettes and the fact that it can lead to drug abuse, addiction and dependence. A problem that can have serious health implications for those that smoke. On this premise, it is my belief that smoking should be made illegal to protect the lives of the populace.

First and foremost, smoking can lead to a habit where there is a compulsive urge to indulge in it and the smoker can only feel relieved when they smoke. It affects the way they function at work, home and in public places. As a stimulant, it can impair judgment and affect the way the person perceives reality. For example, the person might be driving and wouldn't be in total control of the vehicle and can end up having an accident.

Additionally, smoking can lead to cough and other respiratory infections. It is even widely known as a factor for developing lung cancer that can be life threatening. Little wonder most cigarettes companies have a caveat on their label that smokers are liable to die young.

Another concern is passive smoking where people that are not smokers can have their health compromised when they are close to a person smoking. It is a more serious condition that has led many people to having asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

In conclusion, the consequences of smoking can be debilitating on health and be a concern for the populace. Hence, government across all levels should make it illegal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe smoking should be illegal, and the conclusion restates this view. You address several relevant consequences, including dependence, possible risks while driving, respiratory illness, lung cancer, and harm to people exposed to second-hand smoke. These examples support your argument and keep the response focused on the question. However, the case for making smoking illegal is not fully developed: most of the essay explains why smoking is harmful, rather than why prohibition is preferable to regulation or other measures. The claim that smoking impairs judgment and can cause a driving accident also needs clearer explanation or support. Developing this distinction and weighing a counterargument would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure, moving from your position to separate supporting points and then a conclusion. Paragraphs are generally focused, and signposts such as “First and foremost,” “Additionally,” and “Another concern” make the progression easy to follow. The conclusion also connects logically to the health concerns raised earlier. To strengthen cohesion, make the relationship between each health risk and the proposed legal ban more explicit, rather than relying on the reader to infer it. Some transitions feel formulaic, and the opening contains a fragment—“A problem that can have serious health implications”—which interrupts the flow between ideas. Linking sentences within paragraphs and varying transitions would make the organisation feel more seamless.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “compulsive urge,” “respiratory infections,” “life threatening,” and “passive smoking,” which helps communicate the main points. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “public concern” and “health implications.” However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “proliferation of the product” is vague, “a caveat on their label” does not accurately describe a health warning, and “a more serious condition” is unclear when referring to passive smoking. “Drug abuse” is also not well suited to the point about cigarette dependence. Aim for precise collocations and distinguish clearly between smoking, nicotine dependence, and second-hand smoke.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including subordinate clauses beginning “where” and “when,” and most of the argument remains understandable. Some grammatical errors are present, but they rarely prevent the reader from following your meaning. For example, “it's severe effects” needs the possessive “its,” while “A problem that can have serious health implications” is a sentence fragment and should be joined to the preceding sentence. There are also agreement and article issues in “government across all levels should make it illegal”; a more controlled form would be “governments at all levels should make smoking illegal.” Review sentence boundaries, possessives, and singular/plural agreement, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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