Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-21

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)

In today's time, many people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of consulting a doctor. I consider it as a negative development . However, a few people benefits positive effects but negative effects outweigh positive effects. The essay will discuss all the points with facts and arguments.

This segment of the essay, will look forward to my statement of the negative development. Firstly, treating patients with the right medicine and to give proper treatments is the job of a doctor. To elaborate, many people think that it is normal cough or fever and take medicines according to their choice without visiting their usual doctor and in the future when they do not get recovered then after they decides to visit a doctor, during that time the disease or virus has already increased in their body and the cost of medicine become expensive as it requires more time to get healthy.

Furthermore, nowadays people think that it is not necessary to visit doctor because they trust remedies of AI like Google, Gemini, ChatGPT more than humans. For instance, if people think that they have some disease or virus than instead of going to physicians they prefer to ask the AI and follow its response. This can lead to several problems like AI can also give wrong suggestion which results in increase of health problem and sometimes it can also creates death.

Conversely, sometimes individuals are aware about their problems and they are experienced in using medicines and treatments as per their choice. But these cases are for few numbers of people as everyone does not have expertise in these topics. So, consulting a doctor is necessary while having any health problems.

To conclude, although a few people benefit from using alternative medicines or treatments but it should not be considered by all the people as it have many side effects. Therefore, negative effects outweigh the positive ones.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the trend is negative. The main ideas—the risks of delayed professional diagnosis and the unreliability of AI-generated medical advice—are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. The argument regarding AI is a strong contemporary point, but the explanation of 'alternative medicines' is slightly conflated with 'self-diagnosis' and 'ignoring doctors.' To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples of what constitutes 'alternative medicine' (e.g., herbal supplements or homeopathy) and explain why these specifically are inferior to conventional medicine, rather than focusing primarily on the dangers of self-diagnosis via AI.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear introduction and conclusion. You use some cohesive devices like 'Furthermore,' 'Conversely,' and 'To conclude,' which help the flow. However, the transition between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are issues with referencing and sentence structure that occasionally disrupt the flow. For example, the phrase 'This segment of the essay, will look forward to my statement' is unnecessary and awkward. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'physicians,' 'remedies,' and 'expertise.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'creates death' instead of 'can be fatal' or 'leads to fatalities.' There are also minor errors in word form, such as 'a few people benefits' (should be 'benefit'). To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('everyone does not have,' 'it have many side effects') and awkward phrasing ('the cost of medicine become expensive'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate better control over complex structures and ensure that basic grammatical rules, such as verb tense consistency and subject-verb agreement, are applied correctly.

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

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