Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-17

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 debate over whether the smoking should be completely outlawed due to its severe health risks has recognised in recent years. While it is undeniable that tobacco use places massive burden on individuals's health and healthcare system. I completely disagree that a total ban is an effective solution. Instead, the government should rely on strict regulations and public education.

The primary argument against the making smoking illegal is the issue of personal freedom and autonomy. In a free society, individual has a right to choose their personals freely when they are not harming others. Moreover, the prohibition historically fails to eliminate the consumption. If they outlaw the tobacco, people urge to smuggle through illegal resources and it increases the criminal rate, due to lack of quality, they use black market like the prohibition that occured in 1920s.

Instead the complete ban, the government should places high excise taxes on cigarette and tobacco products and also apply strict regulations to prohibit smoking at public places. When the lavies rise, it ultimately discourage people to continue their consumption of tobacco. The youth face the financial issue when they keep their habit of smoking, so they may quit. The government should also raise public awareness regarding the health risks of the smoking through various social media platforms.

In conclusion, while smoking is undoubtedly a destructive habit that causes serious illnesses, making it illegal is a counterproductive approach that infringes the personal liberty and enhance the illegal trade. The high taxes, strict regulations and prohibition at public places, and educational compaigns are the most effective strategies to reduce its consumption.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the prompt by taking a clear position ('I completely disagree that a total ban is an effective solution') and supporting it with relevant arguments regarding personal freedom, historical precedent, and alternative measures like taxation and education. The main ideas are generally well extended, such as the discussion on how high taxes discourage youth consumption. However, some arguments lack deeper elaboration, such as the brief mention of the 1920s prohibition, which borders on over-generalisation without sufficient contextual link. Nevertheless, the requirements of the task are well met overall, earning a solid Band 7.0 for addressing all parts with a clear stance and extended ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: introduction of stance, counter-argument on personal freedom and prohibition, proposed alternatives involving taxation and education, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'While it is undeniable', 'Moreover', and 'Instead of the complete ban'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally awkward, as seen in phrases like 'If they outlaw the tobacco, people urge to smuggle', where pronoun referencing lacks precision. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes, resulting in a coherent overall arrangement that fits the Band 6.5 to 7.0 profile, comfortably achieving a Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'outlawed', 'autonomy', 'excise taxes', and 'counterproductive'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'places massive burden on individuals's health' (instead of 'a massive burden'), 'the making smoking illegal', 'black market like the prohibition that occured', and 'educational compaigns'. There are also spelling slips such as 'lavies' instead of 'levies'. These lexical inaccuracies do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 6.0 due to recurring errors in word formation and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional clauses and relative clauses effectively (e.g., 'When the lavies rise, it ultimately discourage people...'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including missing articles ('the smoking should be', 'places massive burden'), subject-verb agreement issues ('it ultimately discourage', 'individual has a right', 'the government should places'), and preposition errors ('prohibition at public places'). While complex structures are attempted, frequent minor errors in grammar persist, placing the writing firmly in the Band 6.0 category where a mix of structures is present alongside errors that rarely impede general understanding.

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