Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-12

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 5.0)

Nowadays, people are growing numbers of health problem , they trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their doctor. I think this is a negative development because this alternative medicines and treatments are recommended by our forefathers. Our forefathers not have much knowledge about the disease, he knows only sympotoms of disease and they give the old advice that he tooks in his life. It is very negative development because we not study the disease we only knows the sympotoms , and on the basis of this sympotoms we start the treatments. this treatments are not valid for the problem. When we learn about the disease, and we console to the doctor he says only one sentence ' you are to late'. We should stop this negative growing. For example a few months ago my neighbour was sleeping on the bed suddenly he feels some painfull attack on their arm , he thaughts that it was bee . he rub the arm and drink some water and sleep peace fully . After some time the pain was increase four time and he start crying. He take painkiller and trying to sleep but fails . when the morning he examine from the doctor he learn this was not the bite of bee, it was the bite of less dangerous scoripin . Doctor immediately start the treatment of his arm but he fails in his attempt . The solution is only cutt off the arm and save life. If he immediately console to the doctor maybe he save his arm. we should stop this negative development , and immediately console to doctor.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the trend is negative. However, the development of ideas is limited. The argument relies on a somewhat illogical premise that alternative medicine is solely based on 'forefathers' and lacks scientific basis, which is a generalization. The example provided about the scorpion bite is relevant to the topic of seeking medical help, but the narrative is slightly confusing and lacks a clear connection to the broader concept of 'alternative medicine' versus 'professional medical advice'. To improve, you should focus on providing more balanced, logical arguments and ensuring your examples clearly illustrate the point being made.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link sentences and ideas together; the text feels like a series of disjointed statements rather than a structured argument. While there is a basic attempt to sequence the narrative example, the transition between the general argument and the specific example is abrupt. To improve, you should use paragraph breaks to separate your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, and incorporate linking words such as 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in contrast' to improve the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is quite limited and repetitive. There are several instances of incorrect word choice and collocation, such as 'console to the doctor' (instead of 'consult') and 'painfull attack'. The phrasing 'growing numbers of health problem' is grammatically awkward and lacks precision. The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express complex ideas effectively. To improve, you should focus on learning collocations related to health and medicine, and try to use a wider variety of descriptive adjectives and precise verbs to convey your meaning more accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that often impede communication. There are significant issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'he knows only sympotoms', 'he thaughts'), tense consistency (e.g., 'he rub the arm and drink'), and sentence structure. Many sentences are fragmented or run-on, making them difficult to parse. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, and the errors are pervasive throughout the text. To improve, you should focus on mastering basic sentence construction, ensuring subject-verb agreement, and practicing the correct use of past and present tenses.

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