Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-10

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 is dangerous for everyone and therefore should be illegal. I totally agree with the statement. The first reason is because it causes serious health issues and is very addictive. Secondly, many children have easily access to it which makes it even more dangerous.

In todays time and age, where everyone is so busy with their life, people become more prone to doing substance abuse. Therefore, it is very important to make smoking illegal because it is very easily available to people and is also very addictive. Smoking acts like a stress reliver to many people in order to survive the busy life and stress of todays fast paced life.

Moreover, because it is so easily available many children misuse it. Mnay underage dilequents are seen smoking which later turns into an addiction which they cannot let go of. It is very difficult to get rid of this habit, therefore, making it illegal will directly deal with the root cause of the situation. For example - Everyone knows at least 3-4 people in their friend group who smokes regularly. Therefore, it should be taken seriously by the authorities.

In conclusion, weighing the positives and negatives, it is important to realise that smoking has many cons which are very serious. The only positive it offers is few minutes of dopamine hit, however has serious long-term effects on body. It is an addictive substance which is why it is important to make it illegal and to avoid the effects. Also, this is the reason why it should definetely by kept out of reach of children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the opening: you agree smoking should be illegal, and the conclusion maintains this view. You give relevant reasons, including health risks, addiction and children’s access, and the example of people in a friend group who smoke helps connect the issue to everyday life. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For instance, the claim that busy lives make people more prone to substance abuse, and that illegality would address the “root cause,” need clearer reasoning or evidence. The discussion also focuses mainly on access and children, while the serious illnesses named in the prompt are not illustrated with specific examples. Develop each main reason with a clearer explanation of its consequences and support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The progression from health and addiction to children’s access is generally easy to follow, and signposts such as “Secondly,” “Moreover” and “In conclusion” help identify the stages of the argument. Some linking is mechanical, however, and repeated use of “Therefore” and “because” makes relationships between ideas feel formulaic. The first body paragraph also repeats the ideas of availability, addiction and stress without clearly separating or extending them. In the example paragraph, the move from children’s smoking to the claim about friends who smoke is not fully explained. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “addictive,” “underage,” “long-term effects” and “authorities,” so the main ideas are understandable. However, the range is limited by repeated general words such as “important,” “serious” and “easily,” and several inaccurate or unnatural choices weaken precision. For example, “stress reliver” does not express the intended idea naturally, while “few minutes of dopamine hit” is awkwardly formed. There are also spelling errors such as “Mnay,” “dilequents” and “definetely.” Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully; this will make the argument sound more controlled and academic without changing its meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple statements and some longer structures, including clauses with “because,” “which” and “therefore,” and the overall meaning remains clear. Some grammatical errors occur, particularly in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “many children have easily access to it” has an incorrect structure, and “the only positive it offers is few minutes” needs an article and a clearer grammatical pattern. In “Smoking acts like a stress reliver to many people in order to survive the busy life,” the relationship between the clauses is difficult to follow. The final sentence, “it should definetely by kept,” also has an incorrect verb form. Practise accurate article use, verb forms and sentence boundaries while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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