Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-07
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)
People are facing more health problems as compared to past. They are trying to cure the diseases by themselves instead of taking proper treatment from doctors. It is negative development because without proper guidance of qualified doctors, it may harm their health and leads them in trouble.
It is generally seen that people get influenced easily what they watch and heard from someone about different methods and treatments of health related problems which may affect their health negatively. For instance, when people take treatment from uneducated doctors or use medicines are more likely to harm their health seriously. Consequently, it may not only put detrimental effects on health but also cause the patient to suffer from severe side effects.
Moreover, some disease need proper treatment and care such as cancer and kidney disease. When treatment is not done on time, it become so difficult to find the proper solution and the best solution. Therefore, depending on alternative solution often harmful such as some herbs or leaves can affect negatively even if their results are unknown.
In conclusion, people should give more preference to best qualified doctors to cure a disease than that of using alternative methods. I believe governments should also aware people about the negative consequences of using alternative medicines which encourage people get doctor’s advice.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the trend is negative. However, the essay fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the main arguments regarding safety and the necessity of professional care for serious illnesses are relevant, they are under-developed and lack sufficient supporting detail or specific examples. The conclusion is brief and does not fully synthesize the points made. To improve, you must expand on your arguments with more depth and provide more comprehensive explanations to meet the length requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Consequently', and 'In conclusion' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is sometimes hindered by repetitive phrasing and a lack of sophisticated transitions between sentences. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall progression of ideas feels somewhat mechanical. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that the relationship between sentences is more fluid and less predictable.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You use phrases like 'health problems' and 'proper treatment' multiple times, which limits the range. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'detrimental effects', but these are infrequent. Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'leads them in trouble' instead of 'leads to trouble'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise synonyms and collocations related to the topic of medicine and healthcare to demonstrate a more flexible range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'people are facing more health problems as compared to past' (missing 'the'), 'some disease need' (subject-verb agreement), and 'it become so difficult' (tense error). Punctuation is generally functional, but the frequency of these errors occasionally distracts the reader. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, article usage, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately without missing auxiliary verbs or incorrect verb forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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