Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-04

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)

Debates and discussions have always been around. There are always different groups of people that may differ from each other on certain topics. One such topic is Smoking. In this essay, i will discuss both these views and give my opinion using a pragmatic approach.

Smoking no doubt, can cause serious issues to health. Smoking direct lead to damage lungs and also in many articles it is written that smoking is injurious to heath and cause cancer of various types like skin cancer, blood cancer, and also cancer of lungs which can be caused to death. Many people think that the bat habit of smoking is now leading to the young generation. They think that they are the future of world and they don't want to see destroying them. So, they think that the smoking should be made illegal. However, it is a great thought but the people who are used to it will not leave smoking easily. It is hard to leave such a thing instantly. Youth, when see elders smoking, want to try it also. The people who smoke should be done it while any youngster is not seeing them and also, they should prevent it to spread into young generation.

It is important to realize that there is always potential evidence to support alternating views. But in the light of the evidence and discussion above, I construe that smoking can had serious effects on health and also on youngsters. The need today, is that to prevent it from youngsters and also people who are doing it should quit it as soon as possible to be safe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt but fails to take a clear, consistent position. The instructions ask for your opinion on whether smoking should be made illegal, yet the introduction states you will discuss 'both these views,' which is a misunderstanding of the task type. The body paragraphs lack a strong, central argument; instead of debating the legality of smoking, the essay drifts into general advice about smoking habits. Ideas are under-developed and lack specific examples or logical depth. To improve, ensure you clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain that stance throughout, supporting each point with clear, logical reasoning rather than general observations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is weak. Transitions between sentences are often mechanical or missing, such as the abrupt shift from discussing health risks to the habits of the youth. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes inaccurate, for example, 'However, it is a great thought but...' is redundant and awkward. Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the final paragraph where the connection between the evidence and the conclusion is tenuous. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that directly supports your main argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive, which limits the ability to convey complex ideas. There are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'smoking direct lead to damage lungs' instead of 'smoking directly leads to lung damage' and 'cause cancer... which can be caused to death.' The phrase 'bat habit' is likely a typo for 'bad habit,' but it detracts from the professional tone. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise academic vocabulary and collocations, such as 'detrimental to health' instead of 'injurious to heath' and 'implement a ban' instead of 'made illegal.'

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures, and there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('smoking direct lead'), incorrect verb forms ('smoking can had'), and missing articles ('prevent it to spread into young generation'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the lack of complex structures and the high frequency of errors prevent a higher score. Focus on mastering basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like verb tense consistency and article usage before attempting more complex grammatical structures.

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