Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-26

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 harmful to our health. It can cause serious issues on health and environment. Most people believe that it should be made illegally which is quite true. From my perspective, i agree with this statement. Because it has various types of drawbacks in health and social life. This essay wll explain my point of view.

On the one hand, the most effective sector for smoking is health. our health are badly effect by smoking. There are a famous quote which is ' smoking is injurious to health'. It can cause long-term diseases such as lung cancer, heart problem and so on which can also be worse. Some individuals are addicted to cigeratte. Most people thought that it will reduce their stress and mental pressure. Despite by reducing stress, it can reduce their average life-cycle. In a recent research, researchers published that 7 people out of 10 people are addicted with smoking.

On the other hand, smoking is also harmful to financial sector. At first, if it becomes addiction, then they will buy it regularly which is money consuming. As we know, it causes long-term diseases. So for medical care, there are a lot of money spend. In contrast, sometimes in some families, their earning member will be unwell, that's why their families face different types of difficulties. Closely linked to this view is that cigerattes smoke also cause air pollution which impects on global warming and greenhouse. Also, if there are someone beside the consumer, their cigeratte smoke will also impacts on the side persons.

In conclusion, There are several number of disadvantages for smoking. Governments should take some strict steps for this one.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you agree that smoking should be prohibited, and you give relevant reasons involving illness, financial costs, and harm to people nearby. The health paragraph explains possible diseases and addiction, while the next paragraph adds effects on families and air quality. This addresses the main question, but the case for making smoking illegal is not fully developed: you do not explain how a ban would work or consider possible objections, such as personal freedom or the effects on smokers who are already dependent. Some supporting claims, including the statistic about seven in ten people, are presented without context. Develop the strongest points with clearer explanation and examples, and connect them directly to why prohibition is justified.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting different reasons, and a conclusion. Phrases such as “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help signal the shift between health and financial or environmental effects. However, the progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the second body paragraph moves from personal spending to medical costs, family hardship, pollution, and second-hand smoke without explaining the links between each point. Some transitions, including “In contrast” and “Closely linked to this view,” do not accurately describe the relationship between the ideas that follow. Use clearer topic sentences and organise each paragraph around one main argument, with supporting explanation in a logical order.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “long-term diseases,” “lung cancer,” “addicted,” “air pollution,” and “greenhouse,” so the reader can follow the main subject. There are also attempts to use more formal expressions, such as “financial sector” and “medical care.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “issues on health,” “money consuming,” and “impacts on global warming and greenhouse” do not express the intended ideas clearly. Spelling errors such as “cigeratte” and “impects” also detract from control. Build a more reliable set of natural collocations for health, costs, and environmental effects, and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if it becomes addiction, then they will buy it regularly” and a relative clause in “which can also be worse.” Most of the main ideas remain understandable, but errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “our health are badly effect” has problems with subject–verb agreement and verb form, while “There are a famous quote” does not agree in number. The opening fragment “Because it has various types of drawbacks” is also not joined correctly to the preceding sentence. Practise checking each sentence for a complete clause, correct subject–verb agreement, and consistent verb forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.