Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-24

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 habits can cause mental and health issues. I strongly agree with that smoking should be permanently banned from countries.

Firstly, it is the responsibility of a government to make smoking free country by making it illegal because smoking habits can leads toward health issues like mouth, liver and stomach cancer. It can cause life threating disease like damages the lung and cause breathing problems to all community due to air pollution in society. Smokers may required expensive medical treatments and reduce life expentency because smoking contain chemical that are harmful for individuals and smokers can relly on others and can cause effect peson family bonding and relationship with friends and family.

Smoking doesnot only affect smokers, it can also harm individuals around them. Childrens and non smokers may suffer from breathing problems due to smoking. In addition, it is the responsibily of a government to take action to make smoking banned such as discourage people from start smoking and by reduce access to smoking material like cigrates and vape. Smoking can also effect society due to expensive medical isolation having financial burden to healthcare system. Government should make laws for restriction of smoking and encourage healthier liifestyles. Govenrment should encourage youth toward cocurricullum activities so they cannot take part in these unhealthier smoking and promote a healthier society

In conclusion, smoking should be permanently banned from society because it can cause serious health issue and have a negative and can cause breathing problems to others. Therefore, I agree that it should be made illegal to promote healthier lifestyle within a society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the opening and conclusion: you strongly support making smoking illegal. You address several relevant consequences, including cancer, breathing problems for non-smokers, pressure on healthcare, and effects on relationships, so the response answers the central question. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that smoking harms “family bonding” is not developed, and the suggestions about restricting cigarettes and encouraging youth activities are not clearly connected to how a ban would work. To strengthen the response, explain a smaller number of key reasons with specific examples, and clarify whether you support a complete ban or a set of restrictions, since these are not quite the same policy.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The paragraphs broadly group health effects and government action, and linking phrases such as “Firstly,” “In addition,” and “In conclusion” help signal movement between points. However, progression within the body paragraphs is uneven: the first moves from cancer to treatment costs, life expectancy, and relationships without clearly connecting each idea. Some transitions also feel mechanical, and the reference to “expensive medical isolation” makes the intended connection difficult to follow. Improve cohesion by organising each paragraph around one main claim, then explaining and illustrating it before moving on. Use pronouns and linking expressions only where their references are clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “breathing problems,” “air pollution,” “medical treatments,” and “healthcare system.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making meaning unclear. For instance, “make smoking free country” does not express the intended policy naturally, while “expensive medical isolation” is difficult to interpret. Spelling errors such as “life expentency,” “cigrates,” and “Govenrment” also reduce accuracy. Build a more precise set of topic phrases and check spelling; choosing familiar, accurate expressions is more effective than using an unclear phrase.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including clauses introduced by “because” and “due to,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in verb forms and agreement appear in examples such as “smoking habits can leads” and “Smokers may required.” There are also problems with sentence construction and missing grammatical words, as in “I strongly agree with that smoking should be permanently banned” and “it can cause life threating disease like damages the lung.” These errors sometimes make the reader work to understand the point. Practise building accurate basic sentences first, then add one subordinate clause at a time. Pay particular attention to subject–verb agreement, modal verbs, articles, and complete sentence structure.

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