Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-12

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 6.5)

In light of today's day and age, every bad habit such as smoking/drinking has been studied on a deeper level with scientific advancements. Smoking has without a doubt proven to be the number one cause for lung and mouth cancers. If we talk about smoking and legality, this has mixed views as it is only allowed for adults and counts as a 'presonal choice' after an individual reaches a legal age. I believe, smoking should be made illegal as harming yourself and the environment is also a crime and whoever commits a crime must be punished.

Smoking has caused many lives in the past centuries, primarily due to damaging the lungs. We breathe oxygen with the same lungs and smoking causes it to be filled with tar and waste chemicals. We must acknowledge the side effects of smoking as passive smokers are also not safe, in some cases passive smoking has been proven to be more harmful than smoking itself. Parents who smoke infront of their children can leave a lasting impression on their minds and also make them very sick if they inhaling the same smoke. The high amount of nicotine can result in shrinkage of artries which can result in heart problems as well later in life.

Furthermore, smoking not only causes health concerns among individuals but also damages the environment as ciggarette buds can be seen everywhere around the city. People do not realise that ciggarette buds are also litter that they are just throwing away instead of disposing it off properly. Ciggarette packets and buds are seen everywhere and the packing is mostly plastic. We are well aware how much plastic can ruin the environment and plays a huge role in air pollution in the city.

In conclusion, I would say that smoking not only is injurious to health but also a hazard to the environment. The amount of money used to spend by an average smoker in a year can be used to erradicate air pollution by planting trees and doing something that counts towards the good of the society. I would suggest smoking items should be made unavailable in the market and banned along with the users being penalized for utilizing it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses the prompt directly, presenting a clear position that smoking should be made illegal due to health and environmental hazards. All parts of the task are covered well. The writer supports their argument with relevant ideas, such as the dangers of passive smoking, the physical toll on organs, and environmental litter caused by cigarette buds. While some ideas could be slightly more deeply extended to reach the highest bands—for instance, developing the argument about legal rights versus public health—the position is well-maintained throughout, and the main arguments are adequately supported with logical reasoning and relatable examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organization. It is divided into an introduction, two body paragraphs focusing on health and environmental aspects respectively, and a clear concluding paragraph. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In conclusion', and referencing pronouns are used effectively to link ideas. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating distinct arguments cleanly. Although some transitions are slightly formulaic, the logical flow from the main premise to specific health consequences and finally environmental impacts is well-maintained and easy for the reader to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'scientific advancements', 'passive smoking', and 'erradicate air pollution'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'presonal' instead of 'personal', 'infront' instead of 'in front', 'artries' instead of 'arteries', 'ciggarette' instead of 'cigarette', and 'erradicate' instead of 'eradicate'. These errors do not impede communication, as the meaning remains clear, but they prevent the writer from achieving a higher band score where greater precision and spelling control are required.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over relative clauses and conditional structures, such as 'If we talk about smoking and legality, this has mixed views...' and 'Parents who smoke infront of their children can leave a lasting impression...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'Smoking has caused many lives' (where 'claimed' or 'cost' is needed), 'if they inhaling the same smoke' (missing auxiliary verb), and 'The amount of money used to spend by an average smoker' (incorrect passive construction). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but structural inaccuracies limit the overall accuracy.

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

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