Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-30

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 6.5)

Opinions differ regarding how people treat their health problems. While there are reasonable arguments supporting trying alternative options and visiting their usual doctor, neither perspective fully captures the complexity of this issue. Examining both views gives a clearer understanding of such developments.

One compelling argument in favor of visiting the same doctor is that the patient does not need to explain his or her medical history. The doctor will treat him or her having in mind the pervious condition of the client. This saves time during the treatment process. For example, a person who has hypertension visiting the same doctor always, will find it easy when he or she goes to the hospital because the doctor understands him or her and will just do a few tests to monitor the progress.

On the other hand, individuals might opt to try alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor mainly due to worsening health conditions. For instance, if one has been visiting a certain doctor for a number of times and their is no improvement, the best option is to try alternative medication.

Nevertheless it would be unrealistic to overlook the fact that each opinion has limitations. There is no guarantee that trying alternative medicines will change the situation. Sometimes changing medications can worsen the situation. For example, if an individual who has been suffering from cancer and has been going for Chemotherapy treatments decides to use traditional herbal medicine, the cancer cells might grow faster than expected leading to death. Furthermore, maintaining the same doctor can also be risk if the medical practitioner is not well skilled to treat the specific ailments.

To conclude, although both views have reasonable arguments, neither perspective is considered a positive or a negative development since both of them have pros and cons. In my view, it is good to try other medications but also consider maintaining the same doctor if possible.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the issue. However, the task asks for your opinion on whether this is a positive or negative development. Your conclusion states that 'neither perspective is considered a positive or a negative development,' which effectively avoids taking a clear position. While you provide some arguments, the development is somewhat balanced but lacks a strong, personal stance throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, ensure you clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it consistently, rather than remaining neutral or indecisive, as the prompt requires you to evaluate the nature of the development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with clear paragraphing. Each paragraph has a central theme, and you use transition signals such as 'On the other hand,' 'Nevertheless,' and 'To conclude' to guide the reader. However, some cohesive devices are used in a slightly mechanical way. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the link between the introduction and the body paragraphs could be smoother. The referencing is mostly accurate, though some sentences could be better connected to improve the overall flow and cohesion of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'hypertension,' 'medical practitioner,' and 'chemotherapy.' There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'pervious' (likely meant 'previous') and 'their is no improvement' (should be 'there'). While you attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary, some phrasing is slightly repetitive or basic. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensuring that your word choices are consistently accurate to convey your ideas with greater clarity and impact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'visiting the same doctor always, will find it easy' (awkward syntax) and 'maintaining the same doctor can also be risk' (missing article 'a'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are occasional slips. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures and proofreading for minor errors like subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your score in this area.

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