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)

In the present time, a large number of individuals having health concerns are testing other combinations of medicines and treatments rather than consulting with their doctor. I strongly disagree with that statement because it only has negative impacts on our society. Such as, delay in the diagnosis and ineffective treatment. Moreover, Lack of professional medical supervision.

First of all, taking medicine and treatment without the doctor's prescription can be the reason of delayed diagnosis and ineffective treatment because taking pills or unsupervised treatment can cause severe damage to health and worsen the persons physical condition, and in some cases the patient can loss their life. For Instance, a populer case of a lady from india and she is experiencing headache daily and she didn't visit or consult with a doctor instead, she take a herbs from a local shop-keeper on daily basis after some time she started excesive vomiting and when she reach hospital she passed away. However, the people get to know that the herbs she took on daily basis has damaged her stomach.

Moreover, it can also cause lack of professional medical supervision which will raise concerns about the patients health because a person rely on alternative treatment may not have knowlege of ingridients, appropriate dosage and the side effects of using these remidies. As a result, taking such types of medicines without consulting the expert of health care can

cause co

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you consider replacing a usual doctor with alternative treatments a negative development, and you give two relevant concerns—delayed diagnosis and lack of medical supervision. The example about the woman taking herbs also attempts to support your first point. However, the response addresses the task only partially because the second concern is not explained fully, and the final sentence is cut off at “can cause co…”. The example is presented as a “popular case” but lacks enough detail to make its relevance convincing. The response is also 16 words below the required minimum. Develop both reasons with clearer explanation and a complete conclusion that restates your judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction states your view, followed by paragraphs beginning “First of all” and “Moreover.” These markers help the reader identify your two main points. However, progression is limited because the introduction lists points in a fragment (“Such as, delay in the diagnosis…”) rather than integrating them into a complete sentence, and the second body paragraph ends abruptly. Some links are mechanical or unclear, particularly “However” before the outcome of the example, where the relationship is not a contrast. Organise each paragraph around one fully explained reason, use linking words that show the actual relationship between ideas, and finish with a conclusion to give the response a complete progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “delayed diagnosis,” “medical supervision,” “appropriate dosage,” and “side effects,” which helps communicate the main concerns. There are also noticeable spelling and word-choice problems, such as “populer,” “excesive,” “knowlege,” “ingridients,” and “remidies.” Some expressions are awkward or imprecise, including “other combinations of medicines” and “expert of health care,” and “passed away” is less suitable for a formal discussion of a medical outcome. These errors sometimes make the reader pause, so the range remains limited but generally sufficient to convey your argument. Aim for accurate spelling and more natural collocations, such as “alternative treatments” and “healthcare professional.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to use complex sentences to explain cause and effect, for example, “taking pills or unsupervised treatment can cause severe damage to health and worsen…” However, the range is limited and errors are frequent enough to affect clarity. The opening sentence has an awkward structure (“individuals having health concerns are testing”), while “she take a herbs” and “the people get to know” show problems with verb forms and articles. The long sentence beginning “For Instance” combines several events without clear sentence boundaries, and the final sentence is incomplete. Practise forming accurate simple sentences first, then add subordinate clauses. Check tense consistency in past events, subject–verb agreement, articles, and punctuation.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.