Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-13
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 5.0)
It is not doubtable fact that smoking can cause serious health problems. I totally agree with this point. smoking kills the person physically and mentally as when a person smoke, apart from health issues it destroy the mental health of person.
It is also clearly mentioned on cigarette packet that it is injurious to lungs and heart. It can cause kidney failure, lungs damge as these diseases cannot be cured in future. It can destroys the families and future of youngsters. When a person smoke in public the the fumes coming out of it affects the health of other person. If the government ban tabacco products completely it would increase black marketing which is serious issue. instead banning it fully, government should impose high taxes on purchase of tobacco products so that consumers may consume less.
The government can also set the age limit on the consumption of these products so that youngsters should not spent more smoking. These should also be proper ban on smoking in public areas such as trains, metros, railway stations, airports or even more places so as to reduce its consumption.
At last i would say it should not be made illegal rather a high amount of tax imposition make sense.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 250 words, containing only 206 words, which results in a clear under-length penalty under Task Achievement. While the student attempts to address both parts of the prompt—acknowledging the health risks and discussing whether smoking should be made illegal—the ideas are underdeveloped and the position shifts slightly. The student initially states 'I totally agree with this point' (that it should be made illegal), yet concludes by saying 'it should not be made illegal rather a high amount of tax imposition make sense.' This contradiction compromises the clarity of the position. Examples like mentioning tax imposition and age limits are relevant, but lack sufficient extension.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays some overall organization, but paragraphing is problematic. The second paragraph is excessively long and crams multiple distinct ideas together, including health consequences, second-hand smoke, black market concerns, and taxation solutions. Furthermore, cohesive devices are basic, repetitive, or missing, leading to choppy transitions between sentences, such as 'When a person smoke in public the the fumes...'. Logical progression is interrupted by the abrupt shifts in thought within the body paragraphs. Although an introductory and concluding framework is attempted, the overall coherence suffers from weak paragraph division and mechanical referencing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The lexical range is limited and adequate only for basic communication. The student uses some relevant topic-specific vocabulary such as 'health problems', 'injurious', 'kidney failure', and 'black marketing'. However, there are numerous word choice and collocation errors, such as 'It is not doubtable fact', 'smoke kills the person physically and mentally as when a person smoke', 'lungs damge', and 'tabacco products'. Spelling mistakes also occur, such as 'damge' and 'tabacco'. While the vocabulary allows the writer to express basic opinions, the frequent inaccuracies prevent access to higher band levels.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The grammatical range is restricted. The student relies heavily on simple and dependent clause structures, with several attempts at complex sentences resulting in structural faults and agreement errors. Examples of frequent errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('when a person smoke', 'youngsters should not spent more smoking'), missing articles ('on cigarette packet', 'in public'), and awkward phrasing ('These should also be proper ban'). Punctuation is also weak, with run-on sentences and missing capitalization in places. These persistent errors frequently cause strain for the reader, though basic meaning remains retrievable.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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