Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-29

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)

I strongly agree with the notion that smoking should be made illegal as it leads to numerous mental and physical health issues.Smoking started off as a leisure activity for elites. In beginning cigars were owned by wealthy people only but due to rapid cultivation of tobacco plants every other household has a person who smokes ciggarettes.

First and the foremost issue is that smoking is the single leading cause of lung cancer worldwide.Every year millions of young and elderly lose their life due to this. It contains highly addictive substances such as nicotine which provide temporary pleasure to the consumer.

Along with this it causes permanent damage to airways which leads to another disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Several other mouth and throat cancers are also linked with smoking.

In my opinion Government needs to pass laws to prevent underage people from smoking.There should be campaigns run in schools and colleges which should educate students about the harmful side effects and possible addiction associated with this. Also imposing more taxes on ciggarettes, cigars and vapes would make this out of reach for children.Healthcare workers can also play a role in this by counselling these patients to quit smoking and refer them to rehab centers.

Finally I would like to conclude my essay by stating that it is the responsibility of the individual consuming the product to be aware of its side effects.Smoking has always been discouraged worldwide as it has been proven to cause life threatening illnesses and it should be made illegal since it has little to no benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the opening and conclusion: you agree that smoking should be illegal, and you give relevant health reasons, including lung cancer, airway damage and addiction. You also offer practical measures such as school campaigns, taxation and counselling. This addresses the task, but some points are not fully developed. In particular, the essay does not explain why these measures support a complete legal ban, and the claim that smoking has “little to no benefits” is asserted rather than supported. The historical opening about smoking among elites also contributes little to the argument. To strengthen the response, explain the reasoning behind your position and develop one or two examples, including how a ban could be implemented or justified alongside individual responsibility and public health concerns.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, health-related points, proposed actions and a conclusion. Ideas generally progress in a sensible order, and signposts such as “Along with this” and “Finally” help the reader follow the discussion. However, some linking is mechanical, particularly the repeated additive transitions, and the paragraphing does not consistently separate the argument for prohibition from the suggested policies. The relationship between making smoking illegal and measures such as taxation or counselling is also not made explicit. Some sentences run together because punctuation and spacing are missing, for example after “health issues” and “children.” Use clearer paragraph divisions and more varied, precise links, and make the connection between each supporting point and your central position explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “addictive substances,” “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” “underage,” and “life-threatening illnesses.” These choices communicate the subject clearly, and some less common terms are relevant. There are, however, several inaccurate or unnatural expressions that limit precision: “rapid cultivation” is not the clearest description of tobacco becoming widespread, “provide temporary pleasure” is an awkward collocation, and “make this out of reach” is imprecise in this context. Spelling errors such as “ciggarettes” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and precise wording, especially when describing causes, effects and policy measures. Proofreading for spelling and choosing established phrases would make the vocabulary more controlled and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “substances such as nicotine which provide temporary pleasure” and a conditional-style proposal about raising taxes. Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors are present. For example, “In beginning cigars were owned” needs an article and a more complete time expression, while “millions of young and elderly lose their life” has a number-agreement problem. The sentence beginning “There should be campaigns” also becomes awkward through repeated “which should” clauses. Missing spaces after full stops and commas affect sentence boundaries. Review articles, subject–verb and singular–plural agreement, and punctuation; then vary clause structures while keeping each sentence controlled.

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