Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-12

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)

It is widely acknowledged that number of people with health problems prefer alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their dostors has become an increasingly contenteous issue in contemporary society. While some proponents assert that trying alternative medicines and treatments is a positive development. I firmly believe that, this is largely negative development. This essay will critically examines the issue before reaching the balanced conclusion.

To commence with, one compelling justification for negative development is that alternative medicines and treatments often lack of scientific evidance. Many herbal medicines and homemade remadies are not properly tested so they must have some side effects on humans health. For example if any diabetic patient follows homemade remadies then with the pessage of time his health become more worse and then he realized that he has wasted so much time.

Another pivotal consideration is uneducated medical trainners on social media. Most of the people watch online videos about different treatments and then follow these remadies to cure their diseases like blood pressue, diabeties etc. But these herbal medicines also have a lot of side effects that latter reach with real medicines and damage human health. So this is not good especially for those people who have serious health problems to just rely on alternative medicines they must visit their doctors for proper checkup if they want healthy life not just waste their time.

To recaptulate, although differing viewpoints persist the prepondarance of evidance supports the view that just relying on alternative medicines is totally negative development. You can reply only on alternative medicines if you have small issues like fever, stress etc. Therefor, adopting this approach appears both pragmatic and beneficial in long run.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider relying on alternative treatments a negative development, and you give two relevant reasons—limited scientific testing and advice from unqualified online sources. The diabetes example also helps illustrate the risk of delaying appropriate care. This addresses the question, but some points are not fully developed or are unclear. For instance, the claim that remedies “must have some side effects” is too absolute, and the final qualification that alternative treatments may be suitable for “fever, stress etc.” complicates your position without explaining when this is safe. Develop the examples more precisely and distinguish complementary use from replacing a doctor’s advice.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate reasons, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “To commence with” and “Another pivotal consideration” make the progression visible. However, some connections are mechanical, and the conclusion does not follow clearly from the argument: after calling reliance on alternative medicines negative, you say readers “can reply” on them for minor issues and call this approach beneficial. Clarify whether you mean using them alongside medical advice or instead of it. Some references are also vague, as in “these herbal medicines” and “the latter,” so readers may not be sure which treatments or medicines you mean. More direct transitions and clearer referencing would strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related and formal vocabulary, including “scientific evidence,” “side effects,” “pivotal consideration,” and “preponderance of evidence.” This gives you enough language to discuss the issue, but inaccurate word choice, collocation, and spelling are noticeable and sometimes make the message less clear. Examples include “homemade remedies,” “uneducated medical trainers,” and “the latter reach with real medicines”; these expressions do not convey your intended meaning naturally. There are also repeated spelling errors, such as “dostors,” “diabeties,” and “prepondarance.” Aim for precise, familiar phrasing rather than formal expressions you cannot control, and proofread spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “if any diabetic patient follows…” and a contrast introduced by “although.” However, some grammatical errors occur across the response. In the opening, the sentence beginning “While some proponents assert…” is a fragment, and “This essay will critically examines” has an incorrect verb form. Other examples include “number of people” without an article, “his health become,” and “a totally negative development” without the needed article. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly around introductory clauses and commas. Work on complete sentence construction, subject–verb agreement, articles, and verb forms; these corrections would make your argument easier to follow while preserving your attempts at complex structures.

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