Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-10

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)

There is a growing trend of trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of going to the regular doctor by people suffering from different health issues. I believe this is a negative development because it results in unforeseen side effects and causes antimicrobial resistance.

The majority of people trying alternative treatments would increase the risk of different side effects. In other words, by taking medicines which are not related to the concerned health problem results in unforseen consequences. For example, when the patients who are suffering from diabetes and hypertension try to use conventional medicines such as herbal treatments from any local homeopathic, it will not guaranteed what are the outcomes of eating them. It may result in harmful side effects, making patients prone to several other diseases and infections.

In addition, antibiotic resistant is one of the major issues resulted from taking unprescribed antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is spreading at a higher rate and it is expected to cause 50 million deaths by 2030, if not controlled. The major reason behind AMR is taking different antibiotics without the consent of doctors. For instance, when individuals feel common symptoms like fever, headache and fatigue etc, instead of visiting to their usual doctor for a check-up, they assume the condition to be bacterial infection and eat unprescribed antibiotics from any local medical store. Therefore, after recurrent infections, the majority of people become resistant to commonly used antibiotics and make themselves more prone to further infections.

In conclusion, it should be viewed as a negative development due to the unpredicted consequences of taking alternative medications and frequent use of antibiotics which are not prescribed by the specialist doctor also results in the increase of AMR.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you regard the trend as negative. You give two relevant reasons—possible harmful effects and antimicrobial resistance—and support them with examples involving people with chronic conditions and self-medication for fever. This meets the task well, but the development is uneven: the first paragraph’s example is difficult to follow and does not clearly explain how alternative treatment causes the stated harm, while the AMR point is more fully explained. The claim that AMR may cause “50 million deaths by 2030” would also benefit from a clear source or more cautious framing. To strengthen the response, distinguish alternative therapies from unprescribed antibiotics and explain more precisely how each supports your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present separate reasons, and the conclusion restates the position. Paragraphing is appropriate, and signposts such as “In addition,” “For example,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument. The main limitation is that some links between ideas are not fully clear. In the first body paragraph, the move from alternative treatments to “medicines which are not related” and then to herbal or homeopathic treatments is hard to track. The second paragraph also shifts from alternative medicine to unprescribed antibiotics without explaining the connection. Clarify these relationships and use referencing more precisely so the progression feels less dependent on explicit linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “alternative medicines,” “side effects,” “antimicrobial resistance,” and “recurrent infections.” These choices make the subject clear, and some less common terms are relevant to the discussion. However, several word-choice and collocation problems reduce precision: “antibiotic resistant” should be “antibiotic resistance,” “eating” antibiotics is not the natural expression, and “local homeopathic” is unclear. There are also spelling errors such as “unforseen.” Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than adding technical terms whose meaning is uncertain. More precise phrasing would help you express the distinction between alternative treatments and inappropriate antibiotic use.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning “because,” “when,” and “if,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with verb forms, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “by taking medicines … results” has a mismatched subject and verb, while “it will not guaranteed” needs a correctly formed verb phrase. In “when individuals feel … instead of visiting to their usual doctor … they assume,” the structure is awkward and the preposition pattern is incorrect. The final sentence also has a long, difficult-to-control structure. Work on building complex sentences around a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and verb forms during revision.

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