Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-19

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)

It is argued that smoking causes serious health poblems and should be banned completely. I agree with the view, although a complete ban may be difficulf toimplement.

Firstly, smothing is extremely harmful for our health. It is a major cause of illness such as lung cancer, heart disease and breathing problems. For example, mabny people who smoke for a long time suffer from cancer,. Moreover, smoking is is not only dangerous for smokers buit also for non-smoklers. when people breath in smoke issues, especially for childeren and old people in the family who never try before smoking.

Secondly, smoking is also has negative effects on society and the economy. The government has to spend a lot of money on medical treatment for smoking- related diseases. This money could be used for better education or other service. smoking creates pollution and cause fire accidents. If snokers cigarete thrown on the ground any place like street, makle public placed dirty and pollute the enviroment.

However, some people argue that making smoking illegle comnpletely is not practical. Many people are addicted to it, and will ban permanent and noday can be used in life. The government should increase the price of cigrettes, ban smoking in public place and in all shops, and run awareness campaigns about its dangers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear in the opening: you agree that smoking is harmful, while recognising that a complete ban may be difficult. You give relevant reasons, including illness, harm to non-smokers, healthcare costs and pollution, and you acknowledge the opposing view about addiction. However, the response does not fully develop these points: the example about long-term smokers is brief, and the final paragraph lists possible measures without explaining how they support your position. The response also contains 215 words, below the required 250, so there is limited space to explain and support your ideas. Develop one or two examples in more detail and clarify whether you favour prohibition or regulation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two paragraphs presenting reasons, and a final paragraph acknowledging a counterargument and suggesting action. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “However” help readers follow the main stages. Some links between ideas are less clear, particularly the sentence beginning “when people breath in smoke,” which does not clearly connect to the preceding point about non-smokers. The final paragraph also moves quickly from the impracticality of a ban to several policy measures. Use complete, clearly connected sentences and explain how each paragraph’s ideas lead to your conclusion. This would make the progression more coherent and reduce reliance on basic signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “lung cancer,” “heart disease,” “medical treatment,” “addicted,” and “awareness campaigns,” so the reader can identify the main subject and arguments. However, the range is limited and several spelling errors or inaccurate expressions make parts difficult to understand, such as “smothing,” “smoke issues,” and “public placed.” Some collocations are also awkward, including “negative effects on society and the economy” followed by an unclear explanation, and “other service.” Aim for accurate, natural phrases and check spelling carefully. More precise wording for the effects of second-hand smoke and the proposed restrictions would help you express your ideas clearly and avoid repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer structures, including a conditional sentence beginning “If” and a concession introduced by “However.” Nevertheless, many sentences contain errors in basic grammar, and some complex attempts are difficult to follow. For example, “smoking is also has negative effects” combines incompatible verb forms, while “smoking creates pollution and cause fire accidents” has a subject–verb agreement error. The sentence about people breathing in smoke is incomplete, and punctuation and capitalisation are inconsistent. Practise building complete sentences with one clear subject and verb, then check agreement, articles and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these patterns would make your arguments easier to understand.

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