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 has become a major concern in many countries, and became common for individuals which causes serious illnesses and should be made illegal. I strongly agree that sale of cigarettes should be banned and it causes severe lungs diseases and cancer.

To begin with, many younger adults have adopted smoking and included as a habit in their daily routine. One of the major causes are lungs problems inducing smoke in our body makes lungs perform slow. Therefore, this will impact on public health and many individuals are dealing with diagnosis problems like mouth cancer. In addition these are leading to many hospitals have patients concerning this diseases, whereas amongst most younger adults are facing this problem.

Furthermore, governments should make these products illegal and banned the factories, it will help to reduce the use of cigarettes. However, they should establish some awareness and health concerning problems to public about smoking. For instance, a person who are addicted to smoking and cannot resist without smoking can lead to most severe illness. Government should contribute their fund in addicted people community where a number of doctors available to a patient and access for a free treatment. As a result, these programs and initiatives will help to overcome with this problem and the state live a happy and healthy life.

In conclusion, smoking has concerned with several measures and I agree these substances should be made illegal and tax heavily on these factories and banned. However, government should consider this problem by preventive measures like funding authorities and initiative programs and applicable poor to access their addiction.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you strongly agree that smoking should be made illegal, and you address both the health risks and possible government action. The references to lung problems, cancer, public-health effects, and support for people with addiction are relevant to the question. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that banning factories would reduce smoking needs a clearer account of how this would work and what practical difficulties might arise. The discussion of treatment and awareness is more developed, but the relationship between these measures and making smoking illegal could be made clearer. To strengthen the response, explain the main reasons in more depth and support them with a specific example or evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphs generally group related ideas, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Furthermore,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main stages. However, some connections between sentences are unclear or mechanical. For instance, “Therefore, this will impact on public health” does not clearly identify what “this” refers to, while the sentence beginning “In addition these are leading to” is difficult to follow. The conclusion also introduces taxation without developing it in the body. Improve progression by making each paragraph’s central point explicit, using clear references, and ensuring that the conclusion summarises ideas already explained.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “serious illnesses,” “public health,” “addicted,” “treatment,” and “preventive measures,” so the reader can understand the subject and your main position. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “mouth cancer” and “awareness.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “lungs perform slow,” “diagnosis problems,” “concerning this diseases,” and “overcome with this problem.” These choices sometimes make the intended meaning harder to understand. Aim for precise, natural combinations and check word forms: for example, describe smoking as damaging the lungs, refer to health conditions or diagnoses accurately, and say that people can overcome an addiction or problem.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, using clauses introduced by “which,” “whereas,” and “who,” as well as cause-and-effect structures. This gives the response some variety, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction remain noticeable. Examples include “many younger adults have adopted smoking and included as a habit,” “One of the major causes are,” and “a person who are addicted.” Some sentences also combine clauses without a clear grammatical relationship, particularly the opening sentence and “Furthermore, governments should make these products illegal and banned the factories, it will help…” Work on subject–verb agreement and complete sentence structures, and revise complex sentences to ensure each clause connects correctly.

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.