Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-30

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 can cause serious illnesses and should be made illegal across the nations i agree with this argument. it is crucial to ban it as it can cause illnesses of heart lungs

firstly it can cause many disease like cancer of lungs and other related illness it can cause mouth cancer sex issues mental illnesses it should be made illegal the smoking is addiction if someone has it and he want to left it he can. it is totally in his hand smoking also damage younger generation like introduction of e cigrates also affect youngsters.

secondly smoker harm innocent citizens it is also a huge weight on government as it spends billion in hospital due illness caused by smoking . smoker are less productive as they take leaves there is nicotine in cigarettes which is addictive for young people if it is illegal next generation will be safe .

In conclusion, I strongly agree that smoking should be made illegal across all nations. It causes deadly diseases like lung cancer, heart problems and mouth cancer, and it is a harmful addiction. Moreover, it not only damages smokers but also harms innocent people through passive smoking and puts a huge financial burden on governments. Although some people think it is a personal choice, the damage to public health and the younger generation is far greater. Therefore, banning smoking completely is essential for a healthy and productive society.*

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that smoking should be illegal, and you give relevant reasons, including serious illness, harm to bystanders, and costs to governments. The conclusion also acknowledges the opposing view that smoking is a personal choice, which helps address the question. However, several points are asserted rather than explained: for example, the claim that smokers are less productive because they take leave needs development or an example, and the reference to e-cigarettes is not clearly connected to the argument. The response is 226 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum; the 10 words copied from the prompt are excluded. Develop your main reasons with clearer explanations and relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening position, two body sections signalled by “firstly” and “secondly,” and a conclusion. This makes the main line of argument reasonably easy to follow. However, progression within the body paragraphs is uneven: the first moves from diseases to addiction and then younger people without clearly linking these points, while the second combines public costs, productivity, nicotine, and future generations. Some connections are also unclear, such as “if someone has it and he want to left it he can.” Use one central idea per paragraph, explain how each supporting point relates to it, and use referencing and linking phrases accurately rather than relying mainly on basic sequence markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main argument, including “serious illnesses,” “lung cancer,” “passive smoking,” “addiction,” and “financial burden.” These choices show awareness of the subject and help make your position clear. However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or awkward, such as “illnesses of heart lungs,” “huge weight on government,” and “smoker harm innocent citizens.” Spelling and word-form errors, including “cigrates” and “disease” where a plural is needed, also reduce precision. Build a wider set of accurate collocations for health and public policy, and check spelling and word forms carefully so your ideas sound natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate your overall position using mostly simple sentence patterns, and the final paragraph attempts a more developed structure with “Although some people think it is a personal choice…”. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to interpret. Examples include “i agree with this argument,” “it can cause illnesses of heart lungs,” and “if someone has it and he want to left it he can,” where sentence boundaries, agreement, and verb forms are not controlled. There are also run-on sentences and inconsistent punctuation, especially in the opening and first body paragraph. Practise forming complete sentences, checking subject–verb agreement and verb patterns, and separating related ideas with appropriate punctuation.

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

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