Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

In my opinion, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor is a negative development. Doctors are trained peole with lots of experince of different health problems. They have the necessary medicines or the treatments that we might need. Those treatments depends on our health condition. If we don't have the proper understanding of our health condition, we might take some wrong medicines and that can be caused to a bigger problem than that we initially had.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You clearly state your view: you consider the growing use of alternative treatments a negative development, and you give a relevant reason by explaining that doctors are trained to assess health problems. However, the response does not develop the argument or address the issue in enough detail: it does not explain specific risks of replacing medical care, give an example, or consider the alternative-treatment side. The response is 69 words, so it falls 181 words short of the 250-word minimum; 20 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. This very limited coverage and support mean the task is addressed only minimally. To improve, develop two or three reasons with explanations and examples, while maintaining your clear position throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The ideas follow a basic, understandable sequence: you state your opinion, describe doctors’ expertise, and then explain that choosing medicines without understanding one’s condition may cause harm. The conditional sentence beginning “If we don’t have the proper understanding” helps connect a cause with a possible consequence. However, the response is a single short paragraph, and the progression is not developed into a fuller argument. Several sentences begin with “They” or “Those treatments,” but the links between the points remain simple, and “Those treatments” does not clearly advance the explanation. Organise the response into an introduction, developed body paragraphs, and a conclusion, using clear references and linking phrases to show how each reason supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “alternative medicines and treatments,” “health condition,” and “proper understanding.” These choices make your main point understandable. However, the range is narrow and several word choices or forms are inaccurate, such as “peole,” “experince,” and “caused to a bigger problem.” The repeated use of general terms such as “health problems,” “treatments,” and “medicines” also limits precision. Aim to use accurate topic-specific expressions and check spelling and collocations. For example, you could describe the risk of “delaying a diagnosis” or explain that an unsuitable remedy may “worsen an existing condition.” This would make the argument clearer and more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You communicate your main ideas using several sentence forms, including a conditional structure: “If we don’t have the proper understanding of our health condition, we might take some wrong medicines.” This shows an attempt to explain a possible consequence, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, there are errors in sentence construction and agreement. The opening sentence is incomplete as a grammatical statement after “In my opinion,” and “Those treatments depends” has a subject–verb agreement error. The final clause, “that can be caused to a bigger problem,” is also not formed correctly. Practise building complete sentences and checking agreement and verb patterns, while retaining the conditional structure you have attempted.

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