Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-12

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 6.0)

The habit of consuming cigarettes is adopted by many across different age groups. Smoking can be the main root cause of various illnesses and should be governed as illegal. This essay will argue why this habit is harmful and should be dropped immediately.

Firstly, Cigarette smoking is considered to lower stress. Second, with the busy life one is currently living, it is hard for the mind to not be in constant turmoil and the cheap prices of these products make it and easy solution for one to choose in order to be opted for. For example, a college student has academic pressure and finds his solace in smoking a cigarette for 10 rupees. The amount of smoker's in our surroundings only makes it harder to suppress the urge of adopting a convenient habit.

However, smoking is a habit that comes with a series of serious consequences such as grave illness. Moreover, a smoker is more prone to diseases like cancer and erectile dysfunction, which ruins the life of the pupil. For example, over fifty percent of cancer patients are smokers and spend the rest of their life on medication. Apart from being self-reliant, a slight push from the legal bodies of the country can also help is reducing the number of smokers and spreading so called poison.

To summarise, this essay stated why smoking is harmful and needs to be made illegal. In my opinion, educating the certain demographics about the benefits of quitting smoking will help achieve this goal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The essay addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that smoking should be illegal. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. The second paragraph discusses why people smoke (stress relief) rather than directly supporting the argument for illegality, which creates a slight imbalance. The third paragraph provides relevant consequences, but the argument for legal intervention is somewhat underdeveloped. While the position is clear throughout, the reasoning could be more robustly linked to the specific question of whether a total ban is the most effective solution. The conclusion introduces a new idea about education, which slightly contradicts the earlier stance on prohibition.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'Moreover' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Apart from being self-reliant' which does not logically follow the previous point about health consequences. Additionally, the referencing in the second paragraph is slightly unclear, as the connection between the student's stress and the conclusion that smoking should be illegal is not explicitly bridged. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the flow between ideas could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, though there are instances of imprecise word choice and minor errors. Phrases like 'governed as illegal' and 'ruins the life of the pupil' (where 'individual' or 'person' would be more appropriate) indicate a limited range of collocation. The term 'so called poison' is also slightly informal and imprecise in this context. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'demographics' and 'consequences', the overall range is somewhat restricted, and the errors do not impede communication but do prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'The amount of smoker's' (incorrect pluralization and possessive usage) and 'help is reducing' (should be 'help in reducing'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor slips throughout. While the student attempts complex sentences, the control is not consistent, and errors occur frequently enough to be noticeable. However, these errors rarely cause confusion for the reader, allowing for a score in the 6.0 range.

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