Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-31

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)

In many parts of the world, people are moving towards homeopathic or natural ingredients such as herbs and plants instead of English medicines. Although some people might consider it negative, I believe it to be extremely beneficial. Not only because it has fewer side effects, affordable and also because improves overall being-well.

There are multiple benefits associated with this development. Firstly, it can reduce side effects as well. As excessive medicinal use of natural herbs can not effect the organs instantly. Take an example of Germany, where after the introduction of plants medicinal use in year 2001, side effects substantially decreased around 80%. Thus, it seems like a positive development as well.

Secondly, phytomedicines are comparatively affordable as compare to visiting their consultants. As alternative medicines are often cheaper than hospital visits and prescribed medicines.so, they can save money for common illness issues. For instance, the health Minister of Japan stated in a press conference that in Tokyo people spend 30% less money on health issues as compare to the North America cities because of frequent herbal medicines. Hence, it is indeed beneficial for masses.

Finally, acupuncture focus on both physical and mental health as well. As they can reduce stress, improve sleep and promote a healthier lifestyle. After adopting activities like Yoga, we can improve out health.

To sum up, I believe that substitute of regular check-up is indeed a positive development. Not only because it is budget-friendly, less side effects and also because over all well-being prevent from future problems respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that alternative medicine is positive. The ideas are relevant, focusing on side effects, cost-effectiveness, and holistic health. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the points are introduced, the supporting evidence—such as the specific statistics regarding Germany and Japan—appears fabricated or lacks clear context, which weakens the persuasiveness of the argument. To improve, ensure that examples are more realistic or logically integrated. The conclusion restates the position, but the overall development of ideas remains at a basic level, preventing a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'To sum up', which help guide the reader. However, there are instances where the flow is interrupted by awkward phrasing or mechanical transitions, such as 'As excessive medicinal use of natural herbs can not effect the organs instantly' which acts as a sentence fragment. Additionally, the use of 'so' at the start of a sentence is informal. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that sentences are complete would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'English medicines' (likely meaning 'Western' or 'conventional' medicine) and 'improves overall being-well' (should be 'well-being'). The phrase 'substitute of regular check-up' is also slightly unnatural. While the student attempts to use topic-specific terms like 'phytomedicines' and 'acupuncture', the overall lexical control is limited, and the repetition of basic structures hinders the sophistication of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'acupuncture focus on'), incorrect preposition usage ('as compare to'), and sentence fragments (e.g., 'Not only because it has fewer side effects, affordable and also because improves...'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas and sentence boundaries. To reach a higher band, the student needs to focus on sentence construction and ensure that complex sentences are grammatically sound and correctly punctuated.

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