Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-09

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 6.5)

The number of people trying alternative medicines and treatments for their problems instead of going to their usual doctor is increasing. In my opinion it's a positive development.

Day by day, problems regarding people's health are getting more complex than ever. Also due to high pollution, many kinds of health problems are showing up in a single individual. It's getting to the point that, specialist in a single department cannot diagnose the problems alone. So, the usual diagnosis that may have worked before on a patient, may not be enough for a new patient.

Moreover, every doctor has their own methodology of diagnosing a problem. For example, a simple flu patient is carrying a bigger problem that's hidden. A family doctor might ignore the possibility of the hidden problem and just diagnose the patient as a flu patient, whereas a new doctor may try to dig deeper into the problem. For example, I had a skin problem few years back. I went to my usual doctor and he prescribed me some medicines, which didn't work. I went to a new doctor, he tried a different approach than the previous doctor. After few weeks, the problem was solved.

In addition to that, the variety in medicine is vast. It's not possible for a single doctor to understand the effects of every medicine properly. So, different doctors may prescribe different medicines for the same problem, and one medicine may work better than the other one. The vastness is not only limited to medicine but also includes treatment procedures. There can be multiple treatments for a single health problem and one can be more effective than the others. So, trying out new medicines and treatments can be beneficial for the patients.

There's a negative side also. Some treatment procedures or medicines can take longer time than expected. If the patients keep trying new medicines all the time, and don't give enough time to the medicines to work, ultimately it won't bring any benefit.

Overall, we can say that, trying new medicines and treatments with proper time management can be beneficial to the patients.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you consider trying alternatives a positive development, provided patients allow treatments enough time. The discussion is relevant and includes a personal example about changing doctors after an unsuccessful prescription, which helps illustrate why another approach may work. You also acknowledge a possible drawback. However, the central argument sometimes shifts from alternative medicines and treatments to consulting a different doctor; these are related but not identical. The pollution and diagnostic-complexity points are asserted rather than supported, and the warning about changing medicines is only briefly explained. To strengthen the response, distinguish alternative therapies from a second medical opinion and develop the safety implications with a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, several supporting paragraphs, a counterpoint, and a concluding position. Connectors such as “Moreover,” “In addition to that,” and “Overall” make the progression easy to follow, and the personal example is placed where it supports the discussion. However, the sequence of ideas is not always fully controlled: the paragraph about doctors’ diagnostic methods moves into an example of changing doctors, while the next paragraph discusses the range of medicines and treatments, so the distinction between these arguments could be clearer. Some linking phrases are repetitive or mechanical, and references such as “the problem” and “the vastness” are broad. Use more precise topic sentences and clearer references to guide the reader between points.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range to discuss health and treatment, including “diagnose,” “methodology,” “prescribed,” and “treatment procedures.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and the personal example is described clearly. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “hidden problem” and “dig deeper,” though the latter is informal for an academic essay. Some word choices and collocations are imprecise or repetitive: “problems regarding people’s health,” “a flu patient,” and “the vastness is not only limited to medicine” sound unnatural or unclear. Repeated use of “problem” also limits precision. Aim for more natural academic collocations and vary terms such as “condition,” “symptom,” and “therapy,” while choosing formal alternatives to conversational expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including conditional structures (“If the patients keep trying…”) and relative clauses (“a simple flu patient is carrying a bigger problem that’s hidden”). Most sentences remain understandable, and the meaning is generally clear. Some grammatical errors and punctuation issues persist, however. For example, “to the point that, specialist” has an unnecessary comma and is missing an article or plural form; “a flu patient” is used where the sentence needs a more natural grammatical construction; and “I went… few years back” and “After few weeks” omit an article. Commas also interrupt clauses in “the usual diagnosis… may have worked before on a patient, may not be enough.” Review articles, sentence boundaries, and comma placement, and proofread longer sentences for clear clause structure.

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