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)

Smoking is injurious to health as it is one of the reasons behind several lungs problems. In my opinion, it should be completely prohibited to smoke except in designated areas but I am not in the favor of declaring the use of cigarettes against the law as it is a matter of the freedom of choice.

The consumption of cigarettes is one of the causes behind numerous diseases related to the respiratory system. The smoke of cigars and cigarettes contains multiple dangerous constituents like carcinogens which can cause cancer to lungs. For example, most of people smoke face the issue related to breathing.

According to my point of view, smoking is not only dangerous for person who is consuming cigarettes but it is also dangerous to other community as most of smoke is released in atmosphere leading to passive smoking of other nearby people. That is why it should be prohibited to smoke in an open environment and should be only allowed in areas reserved for usage of cigarettes. It will help preventing other people from passive smoking as it is more dangerous than direct smoking. Because smokers consumes it through the filter of cigarette but other people inhale the smoke residues directly consuming more dangerous particles than smoker.

That being said, I am not in the favor of banning the consumption of cigars and cigarettes because it is against the individual freedom to make choices for themselves. There are lot of other things that are not beneficial for health but still allowed by the law like alcohol and sugar. Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves as long as they are not harming others in any way.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear throughout: you oppose making smoking illegal, while supporting restrictions on where it can take place. You address the health risks to smokers and the harm caused to others, and the comparison with alcohol and sugar helps explain your appeal to individual choice. These points are relevant and supported with examples, so the response develops a clear argument. However, some support is over-generalised: “most of people smoke face the issue related to breathing” is unclear and does not provide a precise example. The distinction between banning smoking in public places and allowing designated areas could also be explained more fully, particularly in relation to how such areas would protect others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall structure: it introduces your position, explains health risks, discusses passive smoking, and then presents the freedom-of-choice argument. Paragraphing helps the reader follow this progression, and links such as “That being said” signal a shift to the counterargument. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. The second paragraph’s example follows the health claim but is difficult to interpret, while the long passive-smoking explanation repeats the idea of danger without clearly separating its stages. The opening also combines support for prohibition in designated areas with opposition to a legal ban, which could be expressed more distinctly. More precise referencing and less repetitive explanation would make cohesion feel more flexible and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “respiratory system,” “carcinogens,” “passive smoking,” and “individual freedom,” which allows you to discuss both health and personal choice. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “designated areas” and “against the law.” Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, though: “lungs problems,” “cancer to lungs,” and “smoke residues” do not express the ideas idiomatically. Repetition of “cigarettes,” “smoking,” and “dangerous” also limits flexibility. Aim to use more precise collocations and vary repeated terms; this would make the argument clearer and more natural without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “as,” “because,” and “as long as.” Most sentences remain understandable, and the argument is not seriously impeded by grammatical errors. Some errors in agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence construction are present. For example, “most of people smoke face” has an incorrect structure, and “smokers consumes it” does not maintain subject–verb agreement. In “it should be prohibited to smoke … and should be only allowed,” the reference of “it” is unclear and the parallel construction is awkward. Review article use and agreement, and break up or restructure long sentences such as the explanation of passive smoking to improve control and clarity.

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