Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-22

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)

Everyone in human existence has a different way of thinking and has different mindset, I partially degree that smoking causes serious harm, but it can also lead affect other aspects.

To commence with, there are many health Dangers of smoking such as smoking can lead to lung cancer, lung illness, heart diseases and various other diseases which can lead to death and there is also risk that by its smoke it can be dangerous for non smoker and its family member and cure of these diseases are much costlier, but there other aspect of not totally banning smoking because banning it can create its black market and can be sold and bought illegally and can cause crime to increase, Tobacco companies provide many jobs and pay large amount of tax to governments.

Further more, as there are two side of coin in this can be can't ban it totally but we and government can take some other precaution to reduce is usage and help people also, as governments can ban smoking in public spaces to protect non smokers, to reduce its usage government can make tobacco too expensive and put on several taxes on it.

They can also aware them from its

damages for example can set teams

to educate people about it, they can

also do advertisement for not using it

or prohibiting its promotion on any kind

of social media platform, they can

also add free help programs for quitting

smoking and we should also tell

people around us not to smoke.

In recapitulation, by banning something

is not a proper way to reduce its

usage there should be other way to

overcome its usage and production.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the severe health consequences of smoking and the negative economic and social impacts of an outright ban, such as black markets and job losses. The student's position is clear right from the introduction, stating 'I partially degree that smoking causes serious harm, but it can also lead affect other aspects.' Ideas are extended with relevant points about public spaces, taxation, and education campaigns. However, the development in the second body paragraph relies heavily on a single, extremely long and run-on sentence that bundles multiple ideas together, which slightly affects the thoroughness of extension. Overall, the task is answered satisfactorily, earning a solid Band 6.0 for covering all parts of the prompt with relevant, albeit somewhat compressed, reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, the progression of ideas is heavily hindered by extremely long sentences that lack internal punctuation, particularly in the second paragraph ('To commence with, there are many health Dangers of smoking such as...') and the fourth paragraph. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Further more', and 'In recapitulation', but referencing and linking are sometimes mechanical or faulty. Paragraphing is attempted, though the fourth paragraph is split awkwardly or runs continuously with multiple distinct suggestions. Because of the heavy reliance on run-on structures that weaken logical flow, this criterion is awarded a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'lung cancer', 'heart diseases', 'black market', and 'public spaces'. There are, however, notable vocabulary errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'partially degree' instead of 'partially agree', 'lead affect', and 'can also aware them from its damages' instead of 'raise awareness about its dangers'. Less common lexical items are attempted with some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score. Therefore, a Band 5.5 is appropriate, reflecting an adequate vocabulary with noticeable slips that prevent it from reaching a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but the control over grammar and punctuation is weak. The essay is dominated by massive run-on sentences joined inappropriately by comma splices and conjunctions, such as the entire second paragraph being essentially one enormous sentence. There are also notable grammatical errors, including missing articles and incorrect prepositions ('put on several taxes on it', 'by banning something is not a proper way'). Error-free sentences are infrequent due to structural entanglement and punctuation failures. While the meaning remains mostly discernible, the frequency of structural errors places this firmly at a Band 5.0.

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

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