Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor.

Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Currently, a greater number of people with heath issues are trying different medicines and treatments rather then visiting their ususal doctor.I believed that this is a negative development because people do not have idea it causes different diseases which effects the human heatlh.

Most of the individuals are taking medicines without any prescription. At present, it increases in the people which are not beneficial. Because through this way people suffer various types of disease by taking medicines not risystem ghtly. For example, people who have headache and severe pain in front head it takes medicines such as panadol which is commonly in our country. Furthurmore, it takes accessively it efffect the diffeerent organs of such as liver and kidney. Therefore, these ways are effect the healthy lifestyle of people to use a variety of medicines. Also, phramacies not giving medicines woithout prescription.

People are not visiting their usual doctor because they do not know how much is it chronical and severe conditions for individual health. They thought doctor are taken high fees and prescribed a lab test which is not needed. If government and different authourities should improve these conditions and spread awareness about taking medicines without knowing their exact disease it causes a somtimes juidance at the early stage and also some other disease. In addition, city hospitals should be banned those doctors who charge high fees and people are not came for check up.

In the conclusion, these days are very sensitive because of getting different medicines and treatment even they do not aware of efffects. They do not went to doctor which is very disappointed way. Government should take stand about these condition which is not beneficial for public health.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider replacing a usual doctor with alternative medicines a negative development. You give relevant reasons, including taking medicines without a prescription and possible harm to organs, and you suggest that high fees may discourage people from seeking medical care. These points address the question, but they are not all developed equally. The Panadol example helps illustrate self-medication, while the claims about government action and hospitals are less clearly connected to alternative treatments and need fuller explanation. Clarify whether your concern is specifically alternative medicine or self-medication more broadly, then explain how each example supports your view. This would make the response more fully developed and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The ideas generally progress from the risks of taking medicine without advice to reasons people avoid doctors, and linking expressions such as “For example,” “Furthermore” and “In addition” help signal relationships. However, some connections are unclear or mechanical. For instance, “At present, it increases in the people” does not clearly identify what is increasing, and the shift from self-medication to banning doctors who charge high fees is abrupt. Use clearer topic sentences and make each paragraph develop one main point. Check that pronouns such as “it” refer to a specific idea, and use linking phrases only when the relationship between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “prescription,” “severe conditions,” “organs,” “liver and kidney,” and “public health,” so the reader can identify the subject of your argument. However, the range and control are limited by repeated general words such as “different,” “people” and “medicines,” as well as inaccurate word choices and collocations. Phrases such as “taking medicines not rightly,” “it takes accessively,” and “spread awareness about taking medicines” are difficult to interpret. Spelling errors, including “heath,” “ususal,” and “Furthurmore,” also reduce clarity. Build a more precise set of expressions for self-medication, medical advice and treatment risks, and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with reasons and examples, such as the sentence beginning “If government and different authorities should improve these conditions.” This shows an effort to connect ideas, but some complex constructions are not controlled, and several sentences have errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence boundaries. For example, “people are not came for check up” has an incorrect verb form, while “it takes medicines” does not agree with the intended subject. The opening also runs directly into the next sentence without a space after “doctor.” Practise building accurate clauses with clear subjects and verbs, and review articles and singular/plural agreement. More reliable sentence control will make your meaning easier to follow.

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