Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-20

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)

There is no denying fact that smoking is hazardous which can deteriorate our health, therefore it should be banned everywhere. Although, there are strong arguments in the favour of this statement but from my perspective it is not reasonable to restrict it lawfully in the society.

Supporting my agreement to the given statement, I firmly believe that it is quite difficult to stop someone from their addiction as we cannot bound anyone by strict laws. One can find some other substitute which could be more severe. To cite an example, a chain smoker will be uncomfortable if he will not be able to get a stick of cigarette. Moreover, he can buy it in illegal way or switch to some other drug. Apart from this he can indulge himself into habit of theft and many other immoral activities.

Probing ahead, smoking can be done in various ways like, cigarette, cigar, hookah and bidi and all of them contain tobacco in the form of nicotine which makes the withdrawal more difficult. Consumption of these is injurious for health and can lead to non curable disease such as cancer. Government should initiate some regular campaigns to refrain smokers from smoking and make them aware of consequences of smoking. Government have to open more and more narcotics rehabilitation centre at every rural and urban areas where they can have a better treatment for their healthy life.

To conclude, stopping smoking is hard, but a variety of methods can help even though none is a panacea. I believe that everyone should come forward to mitigate this problem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that smoking should not be made illegal, despite acknowledging its health risks, and you offer relevant points about addiction, illegal purchasing and rehabilitation. However, the position is not fully consistent: the opening says smoking “should be banned everywhere,” then says a legal restriction is unreasonable, and the next paragraph begins “Supporting my agreement” without making clear which side you support. The discussion also shifts from whether smoking should be illegal to how smokers might be helped, and claims such as theft resulting from a ban are asserted rather than explained or supported. State your position consistently from the introduction and develop two or three reasons with clearer explanation and examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and signposts such as “Moreover,” “Apart from this” and “To conclude” help show the intended structure. However, progression is weakened by the contradiction between the opening sentences and by the unclear phrase “Supporting my agreement,” which makes the reader unsure of your stance. Some links are mechanical or do not clearly express the relationship between ideas; for example, “Probing ahead” does not naturally introduce the point about forms of tobacco use. The paragraph about health effects and government campaigns also combines several ideas without showing how they support your argument about legality. Use a consistent position, clearer topic sentences and more precise links between each claim and its explanation.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “hazardous,” “addiction,” “withdrawal,” “rehabilitation” and “consequences,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “panacea” and “mitigate this problem.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, including “There is no denying fact,” “bound anyone by strict laws,” “buy it in illegal way” and “non curable disease.” These reduce precision even when the intended meaning can be inferred. Aim for natural collocations and accurate word forms, such as “There is no denying that,” “cannot force people to quit,” “buy it illegally” and “incurable diseases.” This would make your vocabulary more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including a concession in “Although … but from my perspective” and a relative clause in “which makes the withdrawal more difficult.” Some sentences communicate their main meaning, but errors in sentence construction and agreement recur. For example, “Although” and “but” are used together, “if he will not be able” uses an unsuitable future form after “if,” and “Government have to open” has subject–verb disagreement. There are also problems with articles and plurals in “at every rural and urban areas.” These errors do not usually prevent understanding, but they make the writing less controlled. Practise building one clear clause relationship at a time, and check agreement, articles and verb forms when editing.

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