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)

In recent years, many young and old-aged individuals suffering from their severe diseases, they don't consult any relevant doctor, they just take random painkillers to relieve their pain. From my perspective, it's a negative impact on health, especially extreme stages of diseases when people did not consult their doctor. In the following paragraphs, I shall explain the harmful effects on human beings and share my own opinion.

One the other hand, the major demerits of not consulting professional doctors in case you suffer from high-level diseases, the disease can attack on human health extremely and in this case the movement of body is getting worse. Furthermore, lack of doctor consultation can be harmful for those who are going through extreme-level disease such as cancer, typhoid, and numerous diseases. For instance, consulting doctor is significantly beneficial and many people can survive their good health life for long term.

On the other hand, there are another most disadvantages of did not consult the doctor many people can lose their life. Moreover, the population grew rapidly nowadays, and many people take junk food especially Gen Z, this kind of food contains various harmful effects on health especially digestive system got disturbed. Many folks in their spare time taking fast food on daily bases and this various kind of junk food can immediately affect the immune system. To illustrate, the laziness in human beings significantly major harmful effect. In this case people don't consult the doctor.

To sum up, I firmly believe that, taking random medicine without consultation is not beneficial. They relieve human disease pain temporarily, after some time people suffer again from their diseases. Additionally, consultation plays significantly role in our daily lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear negative stance. However, the development of ideas is inconsistent. While you identify that avoiding doctors is harmful, the explanation is repetitive and lacks depth. Furthermore, the inclusion of a paragraph about junk food and Gen Z is largely irrelevant to the core topic of 'alternative medicine' versus 'usual doctors.' To improve, ensure every paragraph directly supports your central argument and provides specific, logical reasoning rather than listing general health issues. The conclusion is also quite brief and does not effectively synthesize the main points discussed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical flow is frequently interrupted by awkward phrasing and confusing transitions. For example, the use of 'One the other hand' to start the second paragraph is incorrect as it does not follow a preceding argument. Cohesive devices are often used mechanically or incorrectly, such as 'there are another most disadvantages of did not consult the doctor,' which makes the progression of ideas difficult to follow. To improve, focus on using transition words that accurately reflect the relationship between your sentences and ensure each paragraph has a clear, singular focus.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and often repetitive. You frequently use basic terms like 'diseases,' 'doctor,' and 'harmful.' There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'high-level diseases' (instead of 'serious' or 'chronic illnesses') and 'survive their good health life' (which is non-standard). The phrase 'on daily bases' is also incorrect; the standard form is 'on a daily basis.' To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and collocations related to medical contexts, such as 'professional medical advice,' 'symptom management,' or 'conventional medicine.'

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement, incorrect verb forms (e.g., 'disadvantages of did not consult'), and run-on sentences. For instance, the opening sentence is a comma splice: '...individuals suffering from their severe diseases, they don't consult...' The sentence structure is generally simple, and attempts at more complex structures often result in errors. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, ensuring subjects and verbs agree, and avoiding comma splices by using periods or appropriate conjunctions.

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