Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-16
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)
It is often argued that smoking should be banned because it causes serious health problem. Altough, smoking is undoubtely harmful, i disagree that it should be made completely illegal.
The main reason is to restrict smoking is its negative impact on health. As we know that cigarette also contain nicotine and tar which cause different dieases such lung cancer, heart disease, and asthma. Nowadays people are start using e-cigarette which have more adverse effect on people health because it contains more carcinogenic chemicals then normal cigarette. However, the passive smoking are also more effecting the people because they may suffer in these dieases more rapidly than smoker. For example the children who are living with smoker parent thay may suffer from asthma then thet have to spend money on the treatment of disease which may effect financially and physically.
On the other hand, governments should ban smoking on the public places so that people will not effected from any disease rhat can cause from smoking. As we know that in USA alcohol and drugs were totally ban the people start smuggling of these which cause that crime rate increase in USA. Adults should have a right to choose. Education is a best punishment to guide the people about the adverse effect of smoking on human health. It may be helpful to reduce the rate of smoking in all over the world. For example the strategies of banning smoking in public places become more successful in UK and Australia.
In conclusions, smoking also cause a serious problem for the human health. Acombination of strict regulations and public education is more effective approach.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the health risks of smoking while arguing against a complete ban. The student presents a clear position throughout the essay. Main ideas, such as health impacts and the lessons learned from alcohol prohibition, are extended and supported with examples, such as the mention of the USA, UK, and Australia. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise and could be more deeply developed, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0 in terms of task coverage.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion appropriately. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with transitional phrases like 'Altough' and 'On the other hand'. Referencing is not always clear, for example, when the pronoun 'that' is misused in 'the children who are living with smoker parent thay may suffer from asthma then thet have to spend money'. These cohesive shortcomings align with a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student attempts less common vocabulary, such as 'carcinogenic', 'prohibition', and 'regulations'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'Altough' instead of 'Although', 'undoubtely', 'dieases' instead of 'diseases', and 'effected' instead of 'affected'. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5 because precision is lacking and spelling mistakes recur.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structure. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors that persist, such as 'As we know that cigarette also contain' (subject-verb agreement), 'passive smoking are also more effecting' (passive voice misuse), and 'Education is a best punishment' (article and vocabulary error). Although communication is rarely completely blocked, these recurring mistakes place the grammar score at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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