Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-06

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)

In the recent years, many sick individuals are found to be choosing different medicines and treatments as an alternative rather than visiting their personal doctors. Although, there are advancement in the modern health care system, People tend to look for alternative, I believe this is a positive development as they get to try different choices in regards to their health.

One of the primary reason which led people to try those choices are because of the failure of their traditional health treatments and the medicine prescribed by their General practitioner. When this happens, many get frustrated and it force them to try various methods and medicines. For example, many people tend to try acupuncture and chiropractic after struggling with body pain for so long. This ultimately make their life better with less pain and more movement.

On the other hand, many people get influenced by different perspectives and advertisement they get to see through social media. This will make them make try impulsively and see for themselves. Most of the time, it is observed that those remedies works better than getting advice and treatment through the health system. Many argue that this reliefs we get are short-lived, however their advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

In conclusion, although there are better healthcare systems, many individual prefer to go for various options that are easily available and which gives instant result.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the trend is positive. However, the response is significantly under the 250-word minimum (228 words), which negatively impacts the development of ideas. While the main points regarding the failure of traditional medicine and the influence of social media are relevant, they are not fully extended or supported with sufficient depth. The conclusion is also quite brief. To improve, you must expand your arguments with more detailed explanations or additional examples to meet the length requirement and provide a more comprehensive analysis of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'One of the primary reason', and 'On the other hand'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly inaccurate, such as the sentence fragment 'Although, there are advancement in the modern health care system, People tend to look for alternative'. Additionally, the transition between ideas could be smoother. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that your paragraphing is consistently supported by clear topic sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'alternative medicines', 'chiropractic', and 'impulsively'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'many sick individuals are found to be choosing' and 'this reliefs we get'. Some vocabulary is repetitive, and there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise academic terminology. To improve, focus on learning collocations (words that naturally go together) and proofreading for basic word-form errors to ensure your meaning is conveyed with greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('many get frustrated and it force them', 'those remedies works better') and pluralization errors ('one of the primary reason'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with correct grammatical markers.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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