Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-11

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 5.0)

These days, a rising number of invividuals with health issues are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctors. I believe, it is a negative development becaue it causes the negative affects on health.

To begin with, now days, people assume that herbal treatments is beneficial rather then modren medicines. Additionally, it is largely because people believe that herbal treatments have no side effects and they use organic drinks and oils. Moreover, these harbal ingredients treat minor illnesses like headache and stomach pain. Also, growing number of people think hurban treatments are slow but effective and it does not prevent any damage. For instance, many people use alternative medication because it is cheap and suitable for those people who have the lowest income.

Furthermore, using alternative treatments are negative development for serious desease. A key factor is that wider range of people use herbel drinks to treat the sickness rather than visiting their usual doctor. Besides,

People use huge amout of organic products to deal the sickness without any specefic knowlege and further these products badly affact on liver.

For example, in Pakistan, mostely women use hurbal remedies to heel tumor and after some time tumor get worse.

To conclude, presently, multiple people prefer organic products to cure illness rather then medical advices and it is beneficial for minor sickness. I am aligned with this view that we should visit the usual doctors for specefic treatment instead of alternative medicines because it cause swear health problems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is identifiable: you consider relying on alternative treatments a negative development, especially for serious illnesses. You give relevant reasons, including the risk of delaying medical care, and the example of women in Pakistan using remedies for tumours. However, the response addresses the issue only partially: the first body paragraph mainly explains why people choose herbal products, rather than fully showing why this choice is harmful, and several claims are asserted without enough explanation. The conclusion also calls these products beneficial for minor sickness, which makes your overall judgement less consistent. The response is 238 words, so it is 12 words below the 250-word minimum; the 11 words copied from the prompt were not counted. Develop each reason with a clearer explanation and a specific supporting example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Furthermore” and “To conclude” help identify the stages of your argument. However, progression within the paragraphs is not always clear. The first paragraph moves from beliefs about herbal treatments to minor illnesses and affordability without showing how these points support your negative position. Linking words such as “Additionally,” “Moreover” and “Also” are used repeatedly, sometimes to add points rather than explain their relationship. The separate “For example” sentences could be integrated more smoothly with the claims they support. Organise each paragraph around one clear reason, then use explanation and evidence to develop it; this would make the argument easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “alternative medicines,” “herbal treatments,” “side effects,” “minor illnesses” and “serious disease,” so the reader can generally understand the subject. However, the range is limited and several words or phrases are repeated, particularly “people,” “treatments” and “sickness.” Frequent spelling errors—such as “invividuals,” “modren,” “desease” and “specefic”—make the writing less clear and reduce the accuracy of your vocabulary. Some combinations are also unnatural, for example “deal the sickness” and “medical advices.” Build a more precise set of expressions for describing risks and medical care, and check spelling and collocations carefully. This will help you express your ideas with less repetition and greater clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “rather than” and “which.” This gives you a basis for expressing reasons and contrasts. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “herbal treatments is beneficial” should use a plural verb, while “using alternative treatments are negative development” needs a singular construction and an article. In “it does not prevent any damage,” the pronoun reference is unclear, and “most people use … and after some time tumor get worse” has problems with agreement and article use. Review subject–verb agreement, articles and pronoun reference, then proofread each sentence for a complete, clear grammatical structure.

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