Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-09

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 5.0)

SMOKING IS A VERY BAD HABIT OF ANY PERSON, IT IS SOMETHING VERY SERIOUS WHICH CAN CAUSE SO MANY HEALTH ISSUES. SMOKING NOT ONLY EFFECT THE PERSON WHO's DOING IT, BUT IT ALSO EFFECT THE SURROUNDINGS AS WELL. IN TODAY'S WORLD MANY YOUNGSTER'S SMOKE LIKE IT'S A PART OF THEIR LIFE AND THEY DO MAKE EXCUSE FOR IT AND SAY IT IS SOMETHING FROM WHICH THEY CAN RELIVE THERE STRESS.

SMOKING DO CAUSE SERIOUS ILLNESS,NOT ONLY TO THE PERSON, BUT ALSO TO THE SURROUNDING TOO. I HAVE SEEN TOO MANY SMOKER'S WHO SMOKE EVEN WHEN SOME CHILDREN'S AND OLD PEOPLE ARE PRESENT. THEY DO NOT THINK OF THEM WHICH IS VERY BAD BECAUSE OF THE AFTEREFFECTS OF SMOKING. CHILDREN'S AND OLD PEOPLE ARE THE ONE WHO IS IN THE TOP SCALE OF SENSITIVITY. IN EXAMPLE I HAVE MY UNCLE WHO SMOKES A LOT AND HE IS IN HIS 50'S, WHEN I WAS A CHILD HE DO SMOKE A LOT EVEN WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER WAS AROUND,AND EVERY FAMILY MEMBER TRIED TO STOP HIM BUT HE NEVER LISTENED, AND AS THE RESULT OF THAT SMOKING HE CAUGHT THE COUGHING PROBLEM BUT IT WAS DIFFERENT FOR MY GRANDMOTHER SHE GOT CANCER, LUNG CANCER.

GOVERNMENT SHOULD BAN THE CIGARETTES, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE AFTER THE LEGAL AGE , THEY START SMOKING AND CALL THIS A STRESS RELIEVER. WHILE IT IS SOMETHING WHICH IS HURTING THEIR BODY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY TOO. I'VE SEEN SO MANY COLLEGE STUDENTS IN MY COLLEGE, AND THEY SMOKE LIKE THE PART OF THEIR LIFE AND IT'S NOT SOMETHING THEY DO,THEY EVEN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE TRY IT AND FORCE THEM TO SMOKE, WHICH IS WHY I THINK GOVERNMENT SHOULD BAN THE CIGARETTES.

IN MY OPINION, SMOKING IS A VERY BAD THING WHICH AFFECT NORMAL PEOPLE'S LIVES. SMOKING CAUSE SO MANY SERIOUS ILLNESS, IN WHICH SOME ARE INCURABLE. SO THAT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS TO MAKE GOVERNMENT BAN THE CIGARETTES AND ANY OTHER DANGEROUS SUPPLEMENTS THAT CAUSE SERIOUS ILLNESS.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a clear position that smoking should be banned, and your examples about your uncle and the effects on your grandmother are relevant to the health risks and second-hand smoke. However, the response addresses the question only partially: it gives reasons for prohibition but does not consider the implications or possible limits of making smoking illegal, such as enforcement or personal choice. Several claims are asserted rather than explained—for example, that smoking harms people “mentally” and that students “force” others to smoke. Develop these points with clearer reasoning and support, and make the extent of your agreement explicit in a focused introduction and conclusion. This would make the argument more complete and convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from general concerns to a personal example, a call for government action, and a concluding opinion. Paragraph breaks help separate these stages. However, progression within paragraphs is often difficult to follow because ideas are repeated and linked mechanically, particularly through repeated uses of “because,” “and,” and “which.” The family example contains several events in one long sequence, making the relationship between your uncle’s smoking and your grandmother’s illness unclear. Some references, such as “they” and “this,” are also not always precise. Organise each paragraph around one main point, use clearer transitions, and explain how each example supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the central argument, including “health issues,” “stress reliever,” “aftereffects,” and “lung cancer.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are repeated, such as “very bad,” “serious illness,” and “ban the cigarettes.” Some word choices or forms are inaccurate and can make meaning less clear: “relive there stress” appears to mean “relieve their stress,” while “dangerous supplements” does not fit the discussion of smoking. Frequent spelling and apostrophe errors, including “youngster’s” and “smoker’s,” also reduce accuracy. Build a more precise range of vocabulary for health effects, second-hand smoke, and legislation, and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with clauses, as in “Smoking not only… but it also…,” but complex sentences are often difficult to control. Errors in subject–verb agreement and verb forms occur frequently: “Smoking do cause,” “smoking cause,” and “he do smoke” should use the appropriate singular verb forms. There are also problems with plurals and sentence construction, such as “children’s and old people are the one,” and several run-on sentences joined by commas, especially in the family example. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, with the response written almost entirely in capitals. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then build longer sentences using clear clause boundaries and correct agreement.

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