Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Nowadays, smoking has become a habit of many people. Some people argue that it should be made illegal because it can cause serious diseases. I strongly agree with the view that smoking should be banned.

Adding more details, the most significant reason for making smoking illegal is the risk of disease. People with a habit of daily smoking may suffer from a lot of diseases in the future, such as lung disease. For example, in many countries, people suffer from lung problems due to excessive smoking.

Furthermore, smoking becomes a reason for addiction. Addiction to something unhealthy causes big trouble, which later causes serious diseases. In addition, people waste a lot of money on smoking. People can become addicted to smoking at an extreme level, through which they may be ready to steal money just to buy cigarettes. Smoking is not only dangerous for smokers, but it is also unhealthy for non-smokers who are around them. For instance, there are also many people who suffer from health problems just by sitting around smokers.

To conclude, I strongly agree with making smoking illegal because it can cause serious health issues. The Government should take action to rehabilitate people who are generally addicted to smoking at an extreme level. The Government and high authorities should take action to make smoking illegal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction to the conclusion: you strongly support making smoking illegal. You give relevant reasons, including disease, addiction, financial cost and harm to non-smokers, and the example of people developing lung problems helps connect the argument to the task. However, the reasons are not developed equally: the claim that addiction may lead people to steal money is asserted rather than explained or supported, and the disease example remains general. The response also contains 219 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250. Use the additional space to explain the likely effects of a ban and address a relevant consideration, such as enforcement or personal freedom, while maintaining your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body presents supporting reasons, and the conclusion restates your position. Paragraphing is appropriate, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “In addition,” and “To conclude” make the sequence easy to follow. This gives the essay coherent progression, though some linking is mechanical and the body paragraph groups several distinct points—addiction, money and second-hand smoke—without fully showing how they relate. “Adding more details” is also an awkward opening transition. To strengthen cohesion, organise each main reason into a separate paragraph and use clearer references and cause-and-effect links, so the reader can follow the development rather than relying mainly on explicit connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main argument, including relevant terms such as “addiction,” “rehabilitate,” and “non-smokers.” The range is adequate for the topic, but several expressions are repetitive or imprecise, which limits flexibility and naturalness. For example, “a lot of diseases,” “big trouble,” and “lung problems” are broad, while “smoking becomes a reason for addiction” is an unnatural collocation. “At an extreme level” is repeated and does not express the idea precisely. Aim for more specific, natural phrasing and avoid repeating “smoking” and “serious” where a clear reference or synonym would work. These improvements would make the argument more precise without changing its meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, and most of the meaning remains clear. For instance, “People with a habit of daily smoking may suffer…” and “people who suffer from health problems just by sitting around smokers” show attempts to add detail through longer structures. Some grammatical choices are awkward or inaccurate: “the most significant reason … is the risk of disease” is followed by a broad plural example, and “through which they may be ready to steal money” makes the relationship between the ideas unclear. The conclusion also shifts from “smoking” generally to “people who are generally addicted” without a fully clear grammatical connection. Practise building complex sentences with precise clauses and check that pronouns and linking phrases clearly refer to the intended idea.

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