Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-07

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 6.5)

Nowadays, most of the people are becoming addicted to smoking which can be a serious issue regarding health problems such as addiction, cause deadly diseases as well as harms the passive smokers. I strongly agree that it should be made illegal as it protects future generation, reduces healthcare costs, and creates a healthier society.

To begin with, the most prominent effect of smoking is that it could create serious diseases. Regular smokers have a higher risk of disease such as lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. These illnesses can seriously affect a person's quality of life. In addition, another effect of smoking is addiction. Cigarettes contain nicotine which make people dependent on smoking. Once people become addicted, quitting can be very difficult. Some smokers continue even when they know it is damaging their health. Moreover, it also harms the passive smokers. Smoking does not only affect the person who smokes but also people nearby may breathe smoke. This can particularly harmful to children and people with breathing problems.

Furthermore, there are several benefits of making smoking illegal. The major advantage of this is it protects young people. Youth may start smoking because of friends, social pressure or curiosity. If cigarette is illegal, teenagers would have less access to them. As a result, it could prevent many young people to become addicted. Additionally, it also reduces healthcare costs. Smoking related disease are often require expensive and long-term medical treatment. Government may have to spend more money on public health services which can affect country's economy.

In conclusion, smoking is one of the major problem for health issues such as cancer. It is necessary for the government to ban smoking as soon as possible to make people healthy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you strongly agree with making smoking illegal, and the conclusion restates this view. You address relevant reasons, including illness, passive smoking, protecting young people and reducing healthcare costs. These points are supported with examples such as lung cancer and the difficulty of quitting. However, the discussion is not equally developed: the health effects and youth access receive some explanation, while the economic point is asserted rather than illustrated, and the essay does not explore possible objections or explain how a ban would work. To strengthen the response, develop each main reason with a specific example or consequence and connect it more directly to the case for prohibition.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs organised around harms and benefits, and a conclusion. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Furthermore,” and “In conclusion” help identify the stages of the argument. Within the first body paragraph, the sequence from disease to addiction and then passive smoking is also logical. Some linking is rather mechanical, however, with repeated “In addition,” “Moreover,” and “Additionally.” The opening body paragraph also lists several effects without always showing how they build the argument for making smoking illegal. Use a wider range of transitions and make the relationship between each supporting point and your central position more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “nicotine,” “passive smokers,” “lung cancer,” “social pressure,” and “healthcare costs.” These choices make the subject clear, and some phrases, such as “long-term medical treatment,” are appropriate to an academic discussion. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “most of the people are becoming addicted,” “serious issue regarding health problems,” and “prevent many young people to become addicted.” Repetition of “smoking,” “effect,” and “serious” also limits flexibility. Aim for more precise collocations and varied wording, for example by describing smoking as a public-health risk and explaining that a policy could reduce young people’s access to cigarettes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses such as “Once people become addicted, quitting can be very difficult” and conditional phrasing with “If cigarette is illegal.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “nicotine which make people dependent” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “This can particularly harmful” is missing a verb. In “Smoking related disease are often require,” the plural form and verb construction are faulty. Articles and plurals also need attention in phrases such as “If cigarette is illegal” and “one of the major problem.” Review agreement, articles, and verb patterns, then proofread each sentence to improve accuracy while retaining your range of structures.

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