Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-02

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)

Today, a large number of people who are suffering from various health diseases trying to take alternative medicines as well as treatments in lieu of visiting their doctors . In my opinion , the benefits of this practice eclipsed with the drawbacks of it in the sense that this attempt may lead to numerous unknown side effects as well as it will surely increase the risks of health .

Generally , taking unprescribed medicines as well as following unusual medical treatment is disregarded in most of the country . People often tend to believe in short term medical treatment rather than believing in their physician . As a result , this approach might bring unwanted side-effects instead of curing the actual disease . For instance - older people often like to intake their medicine according to their wishes . There is a tendency in them not to follow anyone's suggestion , not even a certified physician's . As a result , they fall a victim of it and get easily affected with other diseases .

Furthermore , intaking alternative medicines as well as following other treatments blindly may increase the health risk . People unconsciously get affected with other diseases . For instance - a patient may often want to rely on home-made remedy . In some cases , this type of medicines is not approved by any modern medical laws . As a result , it may increase a significant health risk rather than mitigating the actual health issue . In some cases , a patient may be able to recover from his health problem using the alternative remedy , but there is always a risk of getting affected with other diseases .

In conclusion , there has always been a tendency of people to try alternative medicines as well as treatments instead of following the suggestions of their doctors . Having weighed up the drawbacks of this approach , I think- it is a negative development .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that alternative medicine is a negative development. The ideas are relevant, focusing on the risks of unprescribed treatments and the lack of professional oversight. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat repetitive; the points about 'side effects' and 'risks' are restated across paragraphs without significant expansion or the introduction of new perspectives. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more nuanced examples or explore why people are drawn to these alternatives in the first place, rather than just focusing on the dangers. The position is consistent throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion' are used to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between sentences can feel a bit disjointed. There are also some minor issues with punctuation, such as unnecessary spaces before commas, which slightly disrupts the reading flow. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the repetition of the same arguments limits the overall coherence of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'unprescribed', 'mitigating', and 'certified physician'. However, there are instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'eclipsed with the drawbacks' (should be 'outweighed by') and 'fall a victim of it' (should be 'fall victim to it'). The repetition of phrases like 'alternative medicines as well as treatments' throughout the text limits your lexical variety. To improve, focus on using more precise synonyms and ensuring that collocations sound natural in an academic context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms and prepositions, such as 'people... trying to take' (should be 'are trying') and 'intake their medicine' (should be 'take their medicine'). There are also issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring consistent tense usage.

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