Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-10

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)

Nowadays, an increasing number of people who having health issues are choosing alternative medicine and treatments insted of consulting their regular doctor. Although, alternatively medicine and treatments can sometimes be usefull, but as per my perspective it is a negative development becuase it can delay treatment and create serious health risks.

To begin with, there are several reasons are attrected to use alternative medicine in day to day life. Firstly, some alternative treatments are considered more natural and may fewer side effects. For example, people may use herbal medicine which made from plant to reduces stress pain or other minor health problems. Second some people have had positive experience with these methods and therefore thire put highly trust on these medicine. As a result people can take these type medicine for minor health issues in day to day life without required any type advice from their family doctor who give best advice for healty life.

However, relying on these treatments instead of seeing a certified doctor with higher qualification can be dangerous. Many serious illness require an accurate diagnosis and professional medicine treatmen. If people depends only alternative medicines they may fall to recognise a source of condition at an early stage of health issues. For instance, a person with heavy chest pain, might try herbal remedies instead of consulting a doctor, even though the symptoms could increased a serious heart problem.

In my opinion, alternative medicine can have a useful role when they are used alongside conversation medicine and with appropriate medical advices. If people have hugh symptoms about serious health problem such chest pain, breathing problem, then they requied to visit hospital in early stage without relying only herbals medicine.

To conclude, although alternatively medicine can offer some benefits, but i suggested their use instead of regular medical treatment to be negative development.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the trend is negative. The ideas are relevant, such as the risk of delaying professional diagnosis for serious conditions like heart problems. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the arguments are logical, some points, such as the reasons why people are attracted to alternative medicine, are a bit repetitive. To reach a higher band, ensure that each paragraph provides more depth and specific examples rather than listing general observations. The conclusion clearly restates the position, maintaining consistency throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Firstly', 'However', and 'To conclude', which help guide the reader. However, there is some mechanical use of these devices, and occasionally, the flow between sentences is slightly disjointed due to grammatical errors. Referencing is generally clear, but the transition between the benefits of alternative medicine and the risks could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall progression of ideas is easy to follow despite some minor lapses in cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their opinion clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'herbal remedies', 'certified doctor', and 'diagnosis'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and spelling mistakes, such as 'insted', 'attrected', 'thire', 'healty', and 'conversation medicine' (likely meaning 'conventional'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the message. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling and more precise collocations, such as using 'conventional medicine' instead of 'conversation medicine'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('people who having', 'symptoms could increased'), missing articles, and incorrect word forms ('required any type advice'). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors are frequent enough to cause some distraction. The student attempts complex sentences, but they often contain errors that affect the accuracy of the expression. Increasing the number of error-free sentences and focusing on basic grammatical accuracy would significantly improve the score.

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