Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-11

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)

It is considered that an increasing number of individuals with various health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of prescribing their usual doctor. In my opinion, it is a negative development because it may affect our health badly.

Being healthy is an important factor of our lives. Everyone tries to keep themselves healthy to enjoy life properly but if they recognize with any disease they start visiting doctor immediately. During the treatment, if they are not satisfied with it they mostly change their doctors to start a new treatment. Sometimes, a doctor does not find out the actual problem, so it may risky to continue the treatment of that doctor. For example, one of my friend has stomach pain suddenly. She visited a doctor, who told her it is because of overeating but when medicine showed no effect, she decided to change the doctor and then she got to know about her stomach sores, which then treated properly. So, it is good to try alternative in some cases.

On the other hand, i consider it a negative development, as many people do not have much patience to wait for their proper treatments which causes them to try alternatives. Treatments takes time but most people think that it is no more effective so they may change their doctors or try alternative medicine which affect their health badly. For example, back pains often take almost 1 to 2 weeks to show the effect of medicine but many individuals think that it is not working. In this case, changing medicine may cause the permanent back problem in some cases making patients paralysed.

Overall, both the facts are true but we should be patient in the case of treatment and wait until the medicine shoe effect

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt, but the development of ideas is inconsistent. While you state that you believe this is a negative development, your second paragraph argues that it is 'good to try alternative in some cases,' which creates a contradiction and weakens your position. The arguments regarding the dangers of alternative medicine are relevant, but the explanation of why people choose these treatments is somewhat repetitive. To improve, ensure your position is consistent throughout the essay and provide more nuanced reasoning for why alternative medicine is specifically problematic compared to conventional medical advice.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, the transition 'Overall, both the facts are true' is confusing because you have not presented two balanced facts, but rather a contradictory argument. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'that doctor' or 'the treatment of that doctor,' which makes the flow feel slightly disjointed. Using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently,' 'furthermore,' 'nevertheless') would help improve the logical progression between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'trying alternative medicines' and 'visit doctor' repeatedly. There are also some collocation errors, such as 'prescribing their usual doctor' (which is incorrect usage) and 'recognize with any disease' (should be 'diagnosed with'). To reach a higher band, focus on using more sophisticated collocations and topic-specific vocabulary related to healthcare and medical ethics, while ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical context.

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 impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Treatments takes time'), missing articles (e.g., 'visited a doctor'), and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'medicine shoe effect'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic tense consistency and ensuring that plural/singular nouns are correctly matched with their verbs.

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

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