Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

medicines are made to cure the disease ,however they also kills our natural antibodies and body is getting more depened on medicines rather than doing self cure.so,trying alternative medicines and treatments will leads to positive development .

Nowdays everyone is surrounded by different kinds of problems and they get addicted to the particular medicines.for example the injections are like enimies of antibodies as they directly kills them, secondly a person who is having problem of blood pressure ,they have to eat one tablet everyday to make there blood pressure stable.another example is of constipation ,a person who is consuming syrups to cure there disease but there bodu get addicted to the medicines as if they will not consume syrups they will again have constipation.

Replacing the medicines wth the natural herbs,ayurveda will have will better impact on our body. firstly they are not addicted,secondly they do not kills our antibiotics of our body, however they help to produces natural antibiotics . they also helps of build strong immunity system.

the main thing is that when we take usual doctors medicines we just get trap into there manipulation and they just do it for money.

not getting trap into these things we should do exercise daily whivh will cure our most of the problems and just having some cosumption of ayurvedic medicines ,herbs etc. becuase most wealthiest thing is our heath and we can't compromies with that.so sometimes just do your own rather than visiting to a usual doctor beacuse heath is wealth, not a deal.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that alternative medicine is a positive development. However, the development of ideas is limited and relies on generalizations. For instance, the claim that doctors 'just do it for money' is an unsubstantiated assertion that lacks the nuance required for a higher band. While the student provides examples like blood pressure and constipation, these are not fully developed to support the argument effectively. The response would benefit from a more balanced discussion or a more sophisticated exploration of why people are turning to alternative treatments, rather than focusing primarily on the perceived negative aspects of conventional medicine.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical progression is often hindered by poor sentence structure and lack of cohesive devices. While there are attempts to use transition words like 'firstly' and 'secondly', the connection between sentences is often weak or mechanical. The paragraphing is present but does not always group related ideas effectively, leading to a disjointed reading experience. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall flow is interrupted by frequent grammatical errors that make it difficult for the reader to follow the argument's development from one point to the next.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, often relying on basic terms. There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'enimies of antibodies' and 'get trap into there manipulation'. The student struggles to use precise terminology, often misusing words like 'antibiotics' when referring to the body's natural immune system. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of variety and the persistent errors in word formation and spelling (e.g., 'bodu', 'whivh', 'cosumption') significantly restrict the range and accuracy of the language used.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a high frequency of grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('medicines... kills', 'they also helps'), incorrect verb tenses, and missing articles. Punctuation is inconsistent, with many run-on sentences and improper capitalization. While there is an attempt to use complex structures, these are frequently faulty, leading to confusion. The majority of sentences contain errors, which often impede the reader's understanding. To improve, the student needs to focus on basic sentence construction, ensuring that subjects and verbs agree and that punctuation is used correctly to separate distinct thoughts.

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

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