Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-11

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 5.0)

I partly agree with the statement but it is not that much harmful as said in the statement as i am also a smoker but i smoke oftenly not a chain smoker.Excess of everthing is bad if smoked in excess it can cause serious illness and can badly effect ur lungs and respiratory track.Smoking should be illegal for people under 18 and should not be completely banned as it also plays a good role towards a country GDP.Government should impose high taxes on it so people wouldn't smoke more oftenly.

Ciggaretes should only be smoked 2-3 in a day not more than that as i smoke only 3 cigarretes in a day and only on weekends as i know excess smoking is bad and it can effect my stamina but its not that much harmful that it should be banned.Cigarretes are harmful when a person mix it with weed making it more harmful to smoke.So i partly agree with the statement and more disagreed with the statement because it is in a person hand whether he wants to smoke a whole pack or just 2-3. So it shouldn't be banned or declared illegal but government should put some restrictions and do some campains to make people aware of excess smoking damages to their bodies and i would suggest that government should impose high taxes on cigarretes so only rich class can afford it rather than everyone smoking packs of cigaretes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You state a position—“I partly agree”—and give relevant points about health risks, age restrictions, taxation and public awareness. However, the response only partially develops the question of whether smoking should be made illegal. The claim that smoking contributes to GDP is not explained, and the suggestion that people should smoke “2-3 in a day” does not establish why smoking should remain legal. Your personal experience is relevant, but it is not enough to support the broader claims about harm. The response also falls 10 words short of the required minimum. To strengthen the argument, explain the reasons behind your position, address the case for and against a legal ban, and support each main point with a clear example or explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable line of argument: you introduce partial agreement, discuss limits and restrictions, and return to your position at the end. However, it is presented as two very long paragraphs, so the reader has little help distinguishing the main points. Ideas also move quickly from personal smoking habits to GDP, mixing smoking with weed, taxes and campaigns without clear transitions or explanation. Repeated use of “as” and “so” makes connections feel mechanical, while the final sentence repeats the tax argument. Organise the essay into an introduction, separate body paragraphs for distinct reasons, and a conclusion. Use linking phrases to show whether each point is a reason, example or result, and avoid repeating the same proposal.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “serious illness,” “respiratory track,” “restrictions” and “high taxes.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors make parts less clear, such as “oftenly,” “everthing,” “Ciggaretes,” “campains” and “effect” where you mean “affect.” Some expressions are also imprecise: “plays a good role towards a country GDP” and “excess smoking damages to their bodies” do not express the intended ideas naturally. Build a more accurate set of phrases for discussing public health and policy, and check spelling carefully. Prefer precise terms such as “contributes to tax revenue” and “the health effects of excessive smoking.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to connect ideas in longer sentences, for example, “Smoking should be illegal for people under 18 and should not be completely banned,” but the response relies heavily on simple structures and several longer sentences are difficult to follow. Frequent errors include missing sentence boundaries and capitalisation (“as i am also a smoker”), faulty clause construction (“as i know excess smoking is bad”), and incorrect forms such as “a person hand” and “a person mix it.” Commas are often used where full stops are needed, creating run-on sentences. Practise writing shorter, complete sentences first, then add a controlled range of subordinate clauses. Check subject–verb agreement, articles and punctuation before submitting.

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