Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-14

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)

The number of people eho do theri own treatment and take medicine without showing to the doctor for their health issues is increasing and i strongly belive that this parctise should bo completely stoped or baned due to demrits it has.

To begin with, there are several demerits treating in home. they may take wrong medicine. To explain it, instead of going to hospital or clinice and showing to doctor just take alternative medicine in home theri is high chance of taking wrong medicine which is very risky for the health.

For instance, if some one is sick and he jsut describe what is happening to him and searching on internet and seeing which medicine should be taken and taking it is very risky and he is not medical expert who have knowledge of medicine so its risky.

Similarly, it may cause serious health issues. To add more, taking the alternative medicine without knowing whats the actual problem and by not visting to medical expert and not getting proper checkup may not be effective for the health and increase the chance to show side effects of medicine and condition may whorse and serious problem can be caused. To be specific, the problem instead of getting better may be very poor and may lead to the serious health issues due to the side effects of alternative medicine and treating problem by themself instaed of looking for the medical experts.

To conclude, although treating health problem by own self may seems be very easy or cheper but the effects of having alternative medecine will be very serious if the medicine is wrong and also may inreases the life risk.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you consider self-treatment with alternative medicines a negative development. You give two relevant reasons—people may choose the wrong medicine, and treatment without a proper diagnosis may worsen their condition—and the internet-search example helps illustrate the first point. However, the response only partly develops the task. The discussion largely treats alternative medicine as self-medication, without clearly addressing why people choose it instead of visiting their usual doctor or considering whether any circumstances might make it beneficial. The second reason also repeats the risk of harm rather than adding a distinct, fully explained consequence. To strengthen the response, explain each reason in more depth and connect it directly to the comparison in the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs signposted by “To begin with” and “Similarly,” and a conclusion. This makes your main position and supporting points easy to locate. You also use linking expressions such as “For instance” and “To be specific” to introduce examples or explanations. However, some connections feel mechanical, and the second body paragraph repeats ideas from the first rather than clearly progressing to a new point. References such as “it” and “them” are not always precise, so readers may need to infer what they refer to. Aim to make each paragraph develop one distinct reason, and use clearer references and transitions to show how each sentence advances that reason.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use a small set of relevant terms, including “alternative medicine,” “side effects,” “medical expert,” and “health issues,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the vocabulary range is limited and several inaccurate or misspelled forms make the writing harder to read, such as “demrits,” “clinice,” “whorse,” and “medecine.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “demerits treating in home” and “showing to the doctor.” These issues fit a limited but minimally adequate range: the intended meaning is usually recoverable, but word choice and spelling are noticeably weak. Build a bank of accurate health-related collocations and check spelling carefully; for example, use “seek medical advice” and “self-medicate” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including conditional structures such as “if some one is sick…” and a complex explanation beginning “although treating health problem…”. However, the longer constructions are often faulty, and frequent errors in sentence formation can make the reader work to understand your meaning. Examples include “The number of people … is increasing” followed by an unclear description, “they may take wrong medicine,” and “the problem … may be very poor.” There are also problems with articles, agreement, verb forms, and punctuation, as in “may seems be” and “may inreases.” Practise building accurate sentences around one main clause, then add subordinate clauses only when you can control their grammar. Proofread for complete sentences and consistent verb forms.

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