Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-18
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 has become a common trend among people to use medicines and apply treatment procedures to recover their health by their own choice, without any scientific and medical recommendation from a certified medical personnel. I perceive this trend as a great negative force because it further worsens their health and declines their economic status in long run.
Taking medicines without any official checkup is like throwing arrows at night. It is almost certain to fail. Since the health problem is not addressed, it gets more worse making people suffer highly, and at end it costs their lives. Some irrelevant medicines with side effects creates a new type of health problem that will be more difficult to solve. Many time we don't know about the cause and nature of these side effects too. For example, for the treatment of snake bite, one individual applied himself the neem juice in wound, and this resulted in his death. Had he went to hospital, we won't lose his life.
Apart from mental and physical stress faced by patients that arise of unhealing of problems from inappropriate medicine, a large amount of money is invested in his/her life. If the medicine and treatment procedure was appropriate, the health problem would be settled at once and it does not need money again. However, the life-long persistent of health weakness, unsolved by wrong remedies, keep dragging money from people.
Hence, we must be wise enough to go with right medicine to save our precious health from being polluted.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear negative stance. The ideas are relevant, focusing on health risks and economic consequences. However, the development is somewhat limited. The example of the snake bite is specific but lacks nuance, and the argument regarding economic status is slightly repetitive. To reach a higher band, the student should expand on the 'why' behind the trend—perhaps discussing the lack of trust in modern medicine or the influence of social media—to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the development.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Apart from' and 'Hence', but they are sometimes used mechanically or with slight awkwardness. The progression of ideas is generally clear, though the transition between the health argument and the economic argument could be smoother. Referencing is mostly clear, but some sentences feel disjointed, which prevents the flow from being truly natural or sophisticated.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. Phrases like 'throwing arrows at night' are idiomatic but not standard in academic writing. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'declines their economic status' and 'unhealing of problems'. While the student attempts to use a range of words, the lack of control over more sophisticated vocabulary and occasional errors in word choice limit the score. More precise terminology related to medical practice would improve the quality.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'it gets more worse' (double comparative), 'Had he went to hospital' (incorrect conditional tense), and 'the life-long persistent of health weakness' (incorrect word form). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors, particularly with verb tenses and word forms, prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. More attention to subject-verb agreement and conditional structures is needed.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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