Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-13

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 6.0)

At the present time, a significant number of individual with health issues are attempting to use some alternative medication and treatments instead of their doctor s prescription. I strongly convinced that it is a negative development as people should avoid medicines that are not recommended by their doctor, because it can have side effects which can put them in danger.

First of all, nowadays due to technological advancement people feels more confident due to which they are overly reliant on social media and they adopt all things from it without checking their consequences. Human health is more complicated as it is expected even a wrong medicine has a deterimental impact on them. For instance, a couple of days before my friend took a dose of medicine because he had fever, after some time he got releif from disease, however he did not visit doctor and considered that he is completely fine but in few days he observed some serious changes in his body which resulted in developing health problems such as he became allergic. Hence, without advise of doctor we should not take any medicine.

Moreover, several people are trying to cure diseases without consulting their doctor. And they find out some alternatives by ignoring prescription of physician. Medical specialists are not only aware of our medical history but also provide us with appropriate treatments by taking some tests our body. While, people are not much familiar with their conditions so they are unable to cure diseases on their own. To illustrate, a person who has cancer and he does not consult his doctor despite that he discuss his physical condition with someone else such as his friend then he would give him wrong solutions as he do not have sufficient knowledge about human health and symptoms of any particular disease. Therefore, we should discuss our health conditions with any healthcare professional.

To sum up, I would say that our health plays indispensable role in our lives and we should not compensate on it by following wrong information and in case of any health issue we should immediately consult our medical specialist.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider relying on alternative treatments instead of a doctor a negative development. Both body paragraphs support this view with relevant points about risks from self-medication and the value of professional knowledge, and the examples help make the argument understandable. However, some ideas are more fully addressed than others. The first example describes a friend taking medicine and later becoming allergic, but the link between this outcome and alternative treatment is not fully explained. The cancer example illustrates the danger of relying on a friend, though it could be developed with a clearer explanation of how this relates specifically to alternative medicines. To strengthen the response, explain the mechanisms behind each risk and address possible benefits of alternative treatments before showing why you consider the risks greater.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present supporting reasons, and the conclusion restates your position. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “Moreover,” and “To sum up” make the stages easy to follow. Within paragraphs, however, connections can feel mechanical, and some references are unclear. For example, “due to which” in the opening body paragraph has an uncertain link to the preceding idea, while “he would give him wrong solutions” makes the people involved difficult to track. The first example also moves from fever relief to an allergy without a clear transition explaining the relationship. Use more precise pronouns and connect each example explicitly to the paragraph’s main claim; this would make progression smoother and cohesion less dependent on formulaic signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “medical history,” “appropriate treatments,” “healthcare professional,” and “indispensable role.” These choices help communicate your argument, and you attempt some less common expressions. However, inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations are noticeable: “individual” should be plural here, “deterimental” and “releif” are misspelled, and “compensate on it” does not express the intended meaning naturally. Phrases such as “adopt all things from it” and “cure diseases on their own” are also imprecise in context. Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than choosing more elaborate wording: for example, “follow advice found on social media” and “put their health at risk.” Proofreading spelling and checking collocations would make your vocabulary more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “while,” and “despite,” and your meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “people feels” should be “people feel,” and “a person who has cancer … he does not consult” needs a clearer grammatical structure. The sentence beginning “While, people are not much familiar” is incorrectly punctuated and constructed, and “by taking some tests our body” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between the test and the person. Review agreement, article use, and how subordinate clauses attach to main clauses. Breaking a few long sentences into shorter, controlled units would also improve accuracy without limiting your range.

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