Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-11

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 considered deadly and injurious to health due to many reasons such as it affects and damages vital organs of human body. However, it is widely argued by smokers, they smoke to get rid of tiredness and fatigue, I strongly believe it should be made illegal and fines should be imposed for smoking on public places.

One of the key reason, for considering smoking deadly is its ability to damage human organs. Heart attacks, lungs failure, throat cancer and erectile dysfunction all of these are mainly caused by this deadly practice. For instance, study was conducted in United States, in 2010 where lungs of smokers and non smokers were continuously examined for 3 months, and a lot of tar causing cancer was found in smokers lungs while non smokers had completely healthy lungs. It proved smoking cause failure of organs over time.

Additionally, smoking on public places not only cause harm to smokers but also to non smokers as they are inhaling it through air. This practice makes sure to cause harm to those who do not even smoke. Lets take one notable example, children, elderly people and females go to park to benefit from fresh air and walk, but due to smokers they are badly affecting their health unknowingly. Due to these reasons I believe it should be made illegal and banned particularly from public spaces.

Overall, some people believe smoking is a way to reduce stress and get rid of fatigue which they get all day, but the risks it imposes on health can not justify its benefits. Officially must make arrangements to make it completely banned and fines should be imposed to smoke on public places.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you strongly support making smoking illegal, particularly in public spaces, and you give relevant reasons about damage to health and harm to non-smokers. The examples of organ damage and people exposed to second-hand smoke help address the question. However, the response focuses mainly on public smoking, while the prompt asks whether smoking itself should be illegal. The distinction between banning smoking everywhere and restricting it in public places needs to be addressed directly. The claim that smoking reduces stress is mentioned only briefly, and the proposed fines are not explained in detail. Develop these points and clarify the scope of the ban to make the argument more complete and convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting health-related reasons, and a conclusion that restates your view. Linking expressions such as “Additionally,” “For instance,” and “Overall” help readers follow the main progression. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The first body paragraph moves from a list of illnesses to a study without fully explaining how the evidence supports the broader claim, and “It proved smoking cause failure of organs over time” does not clearly refer back to the study. The conclusion also repeats the proposal to ban smoking in public places rather than drawing together the argument about a complete ban. Use clearer referencing and make each paragraph’s central point and supporting explanation more tightly connected.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “vital organs,” “fatigue,” “inhaling,” and “fresh air,” which makes the subject clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “the risks it imposes on health.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “lungs failure,” “a lot of tar causing cancer,” and “benefit from fresh air and walk.” Repetition of “harm,” “health,” and “smoking” also limits flexibility. Some spelling and form issues, such as “non smokers” and “Lets,” affect polish. Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated terms; for example, describe the effects as “lung failure” or “lung damage” and refer to “carcinogenic tar deposits.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast in the introduction and a subordinate clause beginning “as they are inhaling it through air.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but errors in agreement, articles, sentence boundaries, and verb forms occur across the response. For example, “One of the key reason” needs plural agreement, while “smoking cause failure” needs a correctly inflected verb. The opening sentence after “smokers” joins clauses with a comma, and “Officially must make arrangements” lacks a clear grammatical subject. Review subject–verb agreement, article use, and how to join independent clauses. More accurate control of these patterns would make your argument easier to read.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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