Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-11-13

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 5.5)

Smoking is very harmful to human health which causes different diseases in human. I strongly believe that it should be banned in the public places because passive smoking has more detrimental effects than direct smoking. It is argued that government legislation is more beneficial to properly ban smoking.

On the one hand, smoking has detrimental effects on the human health. It is also cause respiratory disease and high blood pressure. Due to continous smoking the lungs and hearts are badly affects which cause asthma and cardiovascular disease. As the smoking contain carcinogenic substance which cause lung cancer. For instance younger generation are using e-cigarette which is more harmful. In addition, passive smoking is more dangerous because the smoke from burning tip directly enter into the human body who stand beside tthe smoker person. Therefore, smoking should be ban on the public places.

On the other hand, government should impose heavy taxes on the smoking ingredients to reduce. After that cigarettes become more expensive then sale reduce with the passage of time. After the strict policy by the authorities rhe habit of smoking may reduce with the passage of time. Furthermore, educate the people about smoking affects on the human health, by advertising on the social media appps and news channel. One of the most effective strategy could be educate the younger generation about the impact of smoking on human health.

In conclusion, the smoking contain the carcinogenic substance which cause lung cancer which is deadly disease, although it should be ban on the public place and educate children about the impact of smoking on the human health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is broadly clear: you support restricting smoking in public places and discuss health risks, taxation and education. These points are relevant, and examples such as passive smoking and lung cancer help explain your view. However, the prompt asks whether smoking should be made illegal, while your position shifts towards banning it only in public places; the distinction between a complete ban and public-place restrictions needs to be addressed directly. The taxation and education proposals are also not clearly connected to whether smoking itself should be illegal, and several claims are asserted rather than explained. State your precise extent of agreement in the introduction, then develop reasons that directly support that position and clarify the scope of any proposed ban.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This makes the main stages easy to identify. Within paragraphs, however, progression is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph moves from health effects to e-cigarettes and then to public-place restrictions without fully linking each point. The second paragraph lists taxation, policy and education, but their relationship to the central question is not made explicit. Some linking phrases, including “After that” and “Furthermore,” connect sentences mechanically rather than showing the precise relationship between ideas. Use clearer topic sentences and explain how each supporting point advances your argument; ensure the conclusion reflects the position established in the introduction.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “passive smoking,” “carcinogenic substance,” “respiratory disease” and “cardiovascular disease,” which helps communicate the subject. There is also an attempt to use more formal language, such as “detrimental effects.” However, the range is limited by repeated wording such as “human health,” “smoking” and “with the passage of time,” and several inaccurate word choices or collocations make meaning less precise. For example, “smoking ingredients” is unclear, and “the smoke … enter into the human body” is not a natural expression. Spelling errors such as “continous” and “app[s]” also reduce control. Build a more precise set of topic phrases and check spelling and collocations when revising.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause beginning “because” and a sentence introduced by “As.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “It is also cause,” “the lungs and hearts are badly affects,” and “smoking should be ban,” where verb forms and agreement are not controlled. Articles and sentence construction also need attention, as in “the smoking contain the carcinogenic substance.” Some sentences are fragments or have unclear connections, such as “Furthermore, educate the people…” Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and correctly formed verb, then check agreement, articles and punctuation. More accurate control of these basics will make your ideas easier to understand.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.