Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-16

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)

Engaging in smoking habits leads to sever diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis; therefore, these practices should be made illegal. I agree with the statement as this reduces the incidence of life-threatening diseases.

Smoking is one of the principal reasons for dangerous diseases like lung cancer, tuberculosis and gut fibrosis. Both active smokers and passive smokers are equally prone to these diseases. Pharmaceutical medicines are not yet advanced to assure the diagnosis of stage 4 cancer patient. Thus, there is an increased risk of death if the patient has resistance to chemotherapy. Moreover, side-effects of smoking is majorly observed in elderly people, who are long-term smokers, who may be suffering from other asymptomatic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol. While the medicines for asymptomatic diseases are perfected, addition of more medicines to the diet may cause drug-drug contradiction.

To help patients all around the world, governments should impose a strict fine and a nation-wide tobacco ban. With the aim of alleviating the socioeconomic burden, the tobacco industries should be legally forced to stop their production. Additionally, regulators should impose a hefty fine and jail-time to all violators of this law. For example, countries which ban the use of tobacco are found to have its citizens less susceptible to lung cancer compared with people of other nations. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the compliance of the law and to make sure that no violations go unattended.

In conclusion, mandating the law will force the citizens stop all smoking activities. As a result, especially elderly will be significantly less affected by lung cancer, tuberculosis and gut fibrosis.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you agree that smoking should be made illegal, and the conclusion returns to this view. You address both the health risks and the proposed government response, supporting your argument with points about passive smoking, treatment difficulties and enforcement. This gives the response relevant development. However, some support is less fully explained: the discussion of elderly people and interactions between medicines does not clearly show why prohibition is preferable to other controls. The example about countries with tobacco bans is also general and lacks a specific illustration. To strengthen the argument, explain the link between each health point and a complete ban, and acknowledge or answer a possible counterargument, such as individual choice or the effects on tobacco workers.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs develop health and government measures, and a conclusion restates the position. Ideas generally progress in a sensible order, and linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Additionally” and “As a result” help signal relationships. This is a coherent arrangement, but some connections are mechanical or not fully clear. For example, the shift from cancer treatment to elderly people’s other conditions is abrupt, and “To help patients all around the world” does not clearly introduce the proposed ban. The final paragraph repeats earlier claims rather than drawing the argument together. Use more precise links between claims and consequences, and make references such as “these diseases” or “this law” unambiguous.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “passive smokers,” “life-threatening diseases,” “socioeconomic burden” and “compliance,” which allows you to discuss health and policy. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “gut fibrosis,” “drug-drug contradiction” and “medicines are perfected.” “Sever diseases” is also an incorrect form, while “hefty fine and jail-time” is less appropriate in this formal context. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding your main argument, but they limit precision and naturalness. Prefer established expressions such as “serious illnesses,” “adverse drug interactions” and “treatment options are limited,” and check collocations when using technical vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional clause (“if the patient has resistance to chemotherapy”) and a relative clause describing long-term smokers. Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and the paragraph structure is supported by generally readable punctuation. Some grammatical errors remain, however. For example, “side-effects of smoking is” has a plural subject with a singular verb, and “force the citizens stop” is missing “to” before the verb. The phrase “especially elderly” also needs an article or a plural noun, and the sentence beginning “Moreover” contains a confusing sequence of relative clauses. Review subject–verb agreement, infinitive patterns after “force,” and article use, then simplify sentences when several ideas are being combined.

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