Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Majority of citizens with health problems are using alternative and wrong medicines for their treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. From my point of view it is very dangerous and negative development. Two arguments for my opinion is written below in detail.

First of all, some peoples do this type of stupid things to save their money and time. They use wrong medicines for their health problem or they start treatment by own of their wounds to save money and time. Let me show you an example of myself, Once i got a cut on my foot during playing football. To save money and time I started treatment by own with out any knowledge. I use wrong spirit due which i got a serious infection which cause me to led more money to doctor. After that i did not try this kind of stupid thing.

Secondly, using wrong medicines may cause serious infection. Not only infection it can also produce more diseases. It also affect our internal organs. Even, it can become a cause of death.

Let me show you an example of one of my close friend Ali, Two weeks ago he felt pain in his stomach instead of visiting doctor he use his mother medicine and after that he became serious ill and he is in hospital now. Doctor said that he use alternative medicine and that affect his heart and kidney . He is in big trouble. These kind of treatments did not make any sense.

To sum up, it should be noticed that we have to visit our usual doctor for health problems instead of using wrong medicines that cause us some serious damages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that alternative medicine is a negative development. However, the development of ideas is limited. The arguments rely heavily on personal anecdotes rather than broader societal analysis. The term 'alternative medicine' is conflated with 'wrong medicines' or 'self-treatment,' which indicates a misunderstanding of the topic. While the position is consistent, the lack of depth and the narrow focus on personal examples prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, you should discuss the broader implications of alternative medicine, such as the lack of scientific regulation or the potential for delayed professional diagnosis, rather than focusing solely on individual mistakes.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is mechanical and sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'Let me show you an example of...'). The transition between ideas is basic, and some sentences feel disjointed. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between the friend's situation and the broader argument about alternative medicine is somewhat muddled. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and often imprecise. There is frequent repetition of basic words like 'wrong,' 'medicines,' 'doctor,' and 'stupid.' The word choice is often inappropriate for an academic essay, such as using 'stupid things' or 'did not make any sense.' There are also issues with collocation, such as 'cause me to led more money' and 'became serious ill.' To achieve a higher score, you need to expand your range of vocabulary to include more academic and precise terms related to health and medical practices, and focus on using words in their correct grammatical context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede communication. There are consistent issues with subject-verb agreement ('some peoples do,' 'it also affect'), article usage ('visiting doctor'), and verb tense consistency. Sentence structures are predominantly simple, and attempts at complex sentences often contain errors, such as 'due which i got a serious infection.' Punctuation is also inconsistent, with frequent misuse of commas and capitalization. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, and the correct use of articles before attempting more complex structures.

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