Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-04

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 6.0)

In the present era, an increasing number of individuals with health issues are using non-traditional medical therapies instead of going to convential medical practioners. In my opinion, although the use of alternative medicines provides treatment to minor ailments at home, it is a negative trend because it can lead to serious health conditions.

On the one hand, alternative treatments can provide instant relief to some minor illness. It is not essential to visit medical consultant for ailments like fever, flue, and headache, because these can be treated at home. In addition to this, allopathic medicines sometimes cause more harm than good, therefore it is crucial to avoid taking convential medicines, and use alternative medicines. For instance, in China people only use homemade remedies for chronic diseases, only serious cases are referred to hospitals.

On the opposite side, this trend can also prove dangerous, because alternative medicines have no scientific clearence, ultimately, they can trigger acute diseases. Moreover, these remedies can cause death in some cases. Additionally, in a emergency case visit to hospital is very important, because only allopatic medicines can be useful in serious diseases, like sudden heart failure. For example, research has showed that many people have developed serious diseases like cancer by using complementry medicines. Furthermore, many people die every year because they do not visit doctors and use homemade medicines to treat ailments.

From my perspective, the growth in number of people prefering homemade medicines for treatments is a negative development, because it can result in a fatal disease. Therefore, it is crucial to avoid risks and visit doctor if needed.

In conclusion, the use of complementary medicines for the treatment of minor diseases is a better trend; however, this is not a safe method, because life-threatening diseases could be caused by it sometimes, and in case of emergency this trend is not convenient.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the trend is negative. The ideas are relevant, though some arguments are slightly over-generalized or lack sufficient depth. For instance, the claim that 'many people have developed serious diseases like cancer by using complementary medicines' is a strong assertion that lacks specific evidence or nuance. While the position is maintained throughout, the development of ideas could be more sophisticated to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, though it slightly contradicts the earlier stance by calling it a 'better trend' for minor diseases, which creates a minor inconsistency in the overall argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'In addition to this,' and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved to sound more natural. The transition between the body paragraphs and the conclusion is functional, though the final paragraph introduces a slight shift in tone that impacts the overall coherence of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are several spelling errors, such as 'convential' (conventional), 'practioners' (practitioners), 'flue' (flu), 'clearence' (clearance), and 'complementry' (complementary). These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to discuss the topic, but there is a lack of more sophisticated or precise academic collocations. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling and incorporating a wider range of topic-specific terminology beyond basic medical terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'in a emergency case visit to hospital' (in an emergency, visiting a hospital), 'research has showed' (research has shown), and 'people prefering' (people preferring). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. Increasing the variety of complex structures and ensuring subject-verb agreement would significantly enhance the quality of the writing.

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