Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-31

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 is commonly believe that nowadays, a rising number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. There are some positive and negative aspects of this statement, I believe that it brings both pros and cons.

On the one hand, there are many factors regarding positive development. Firstly, save money. To elaborate it, ancient people do not prefer to get medicine and they trying to prepare remedies in home by daily use products that are use to prepare food as well as easily available at home. Therefore, the do not need to buy anything that is why it saves money. Secondly, alternative medicine and treatments are useful. To explain it, older individuals prepare different types of medicines for getting well and they also believe treatment is also useful for heath problems. As a result it brings good result.

On the other hand, there are multifarious aspects related to negative development. The important one is that, some time it creates serious situation. In simple words, when people in critical situation so it might be not affected due to it which prove dangerous for the human beings. Moreover, usual doctors know everything related to their patients. In other words, when inhabitants have a personal doctor so the doctor know everything about their patients even a person themself do not know that things that are known by doctors owing to which it is better to people get treatment to the second god.

To conclude, save monetary and it is useful are major causes of this statement, I believe that its disadvantages cannot be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of alternative medicine. However, the development of ideas is limited and somewhat superficial. For example, the point about 'saving money' is not fully explained, and the argument regarding 'usual doctors' is vague and lacks specific examples or logical depth. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments are under-developed, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, you should provide more concrete examples and expand on the reasoning behind your claims to ensure a more thorough exploration of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt at logical progression. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'To elaborate it' or 'In simple words'. Some transitions feel forced, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the connection between 'ancient people' and 'daily use products' is disjointed. While the overall structure is coherent enough to follow, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the repetitive nature of the transitions limit the flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There is a reliance on basic, repetitive phrasing such as 'positive development' and 'negative development'. Some word choices are unnatural or incorrect, such as 'inhabitants' to refer to patients and 'the second god' to describe doctors, which is an inappropriate collocation. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of variety and the presence of errors in word choice indicate a limited lexical range that struggles to express complex ideas effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('It is commonly believe', 'the doctor know'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing ('when people in critical situation so it might be not affected'). These errors are persistent and occasionally cause the reader to pause, though they do not completely impede communication. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and ensuring that verb tenses and pluralization are used consistently throughout your writing.

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

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