Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

While most people are following the trend of taking alternate medications and measures rather than consulting their regular doctor, I believe people should halt this negative impact and people should focus more on doctor's consult rather than alternatives because Doctors are trained and highly intellect about any disorders inside the body as well as alternate medications can cause severe allergic reactions.

It has high negative impact on an individual because of lack of such type of knowledge as professionals. As per my view, Doctors are the professionals who have dedicated toward such illness in the body and have significantly higher knowledge as well as experience regarding dealing with such illness in the human body. For instance, My grandma was suffering from kidney stones and is experiencing severe pain on a daily basis, she used to take advice from her peers about trying different locally sourced medications which made allergic reaction to her and worsen the situation. Afterward, she consulted with the doctor who clinically removed the stones which helped her to avoid such suffering. Consequently, it helps an individual to be diagnosed earlier before any severe complication.

Moreover, Using uncertified medications can cause allergic reactions in body. I support this statement because using unprescribed medications as an alternative can cause severe allergic reactions leading the clear opening for new diseases inside the body leading to more complications causing fatal damage to an anatomy of an individual. As a case in a point, my friend used an undocumented homemade medications which led him to an severe throat infection inside his body which led him to a surgery to tackle such complicated situation. To sum up, unprescribed medications lead to an serious long term loss.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that using alternative supplements and cures is a negative shift because of lack of knowledge as well as severe gap of authenticity of such cures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that alternative medicine is a negative development. The ideas are relevant and supported by personal examples, such as the anecdote about the grandmother and the friend. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, particularly in the second and third paragraphs, where the focus on 'allergic reactions' and 'lack of knowledge' is restated rather than expanded upon. To reach a higher band, you should aim to explore the broader implications of this trend, such as the psychological comfort some find in alternative treatments or the potential for integrative medicine, rather than focusing solely on the dangers of unprescribed substances.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. You use some cohesive devices like 'Moreover', 'Consequently', and 'To sum up' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by repetitive phrasing and some mechanical transitions. For instance, the transition between the introduction and the first body paragraph is abrupt. Additionally, the use of referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase 'lack of such type of knowledge as professionals', which makes the sentence structure difficult to follow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'clinically removed', 'complications', and 'authenticity'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choices and collocations, such as 'highly intellect' (should be 'highly intelligent' or 'possess high intellect'), 'dedicated toward such illness' (should be 'dedicated to treating such illnesses'), and 'clear opening for new diseases'. These errors occasionally impede the precision of your argument. To improve, focus on learning the correct collocations for academic writing and avoid using informal or imprecise phrasing when discussing medical topics.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, they often contain grammatical errors, such as 'she used to take advice... which made allergic reaction to her' (should be 'which caused an allergic reaction') and 'my friend used an undocumented homemade medications' (should be 'used undocumented homemade medication'). There are also frequent issues with article usage and pluralization. While these errors do not completely prevent understanding, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency of the text. Increasing your control over basic grammar and punctuation will help elevate your score.

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

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