Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-23

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)

Smoking can lead to serious health problems, banning cigarettes could solve the problem

Smoking holds significant draw backs such as lung failure, cancer and many more health related problems. For instance, I would like to talk about an extremely popular advertisement on television, posters, social media and is even mention on cigarettes packing saying "Smoking causes cancer, Smoking kills" which means that it had serious impacts on one's health and can even lead to death. It is not only dangerous for the one who smokes, but even more dangerous for the people around him/her because they do passive smoking which is far more dangerous then direct smoking as one is inhaling smoke from the burning end.

There is no denying that it is an addiction and for someone smoking from a long time would really be very hard to quit, A clear example that I would like to mention is my father. He has been smoking for more than 30 years and now he faces a lot of problems in daily life like coughing, breathing and now a good sleep is a challenge for him. He used to sleep really good but now most of the time at night he is coughing and spitting mucus out. Doctors told us that smoking ha started damaging his lungs and prescribed him to quit smoking, but he says it is difficult for me to quit.

To recapitulate, I would argue that making cigarettes illegal would be a very nice step. Because, from my perspective if someone fails to get the cigarette then he/she would probably have to quit smoking.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the negative health impacts of smoking and arguing that cigarettes should be made illegal, presenting a clear position throughout. The main ideas are supported with personal and general examples, such as the mention of cigarette packaging warnings and the personal anecdote about the writer's father. However, the development of ideas leans heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than broader socio-economic arguments, which is typical of a Band 6 response. Furthermore, the opening sentence contains a comma splice and acts more as a title or fragment rather than a fully developed introduction. While all parts of the task are addressed, the extension of ideas is somewhat limited and relies on repetitive reinforcement of the health hazards rather than exploring counterarguments or the practical feasibility of an outright ban.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance maintained throughout. Paragraphing is utilized, separating the introduction, body paragraphs addressing health risks and addiction respectively, and a brief conclusion. However, cohesion is at times faulty and mechanical. For example, sentences in the first paragraph run together with comma splices, such as "Smoking holds significant draw backs such as lung failure, cancer and many more health related problems. For instance..." Moreover, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrasing "because they do passive smoking which is far more dangerous then direct smoking as one is inhaling smoke from the burning end." Transitional phrases are basic or slightly misapplied, placing this criterion at a Band 5.5 to 6.0 level, comfortably settling at 5.5 due to mechanical linking and punctuation issues that disrupt flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their thoughts on health problems and addiction. However, the range is limited and contains noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as "draw backs" instead of "drawbacks", "mention" instead of "mentioned", "packing" instead of "packaging", and confusing "ha started" for "has started". There are attempts at less common vocabulary items like "recapitulate", but they are occasionally used in slightly unnatural contexts. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. Run-on sentences and comma splices are prevalent throughout the text, such as in the opening sentence "Smoking can lead to serious health problems, banning cigarettes could solve the problem" and later in "He has been smoking for more than 30 years and now he faces a lot of problems in daily life like coughing, breathing and now a good sleep is a challenge for him." Additionally, there are preposition and tense errors, such as "smoking from a long time" instead of "smoking for a long time" and "then direct smoking" instead of "than direct smoking". These frequent errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader and reflect Band 5 performance.

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

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