Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-13

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)

These days some people seem to argue that a group of certain people with numerous health issues are utilising alternative remedies and treatments and avoiding to visit their routine doctor. Although, I believe that using alternative medicines have some advantages. However, I firmly believe that it is a negative development. There are certain reasons of my opinion which i wish to highlight in the essay.

In the first place, it would be quite interesting to note that it's not guranteed that investing a huge amount of money on alternative medicines and treatments will help to recover and fix people's health problems because those remedies have a lack of scientific research on them and not suitable for every individual body who conusme them. One illustration for this is that it might be possible that relying compeletely on home remedies cause to rise further and various health consequences and affect other internal body system.

To put this issue into second perspective which needs cosideration is that there are some benefits of using alternative therapies for patients owing to these therapies such as herbal remedies, acupuncture are being made from natural ingridients and traditional method which have fewer side effects then pharmaceutical drugs. Futhermore, These are cheaper and convenient and used in mild health issues For instance, stress and mild body pain.

In conclusion, I am convinced to say that that it is indeed a debatable issue which need further analysis and discussion. However, in the light of above-discussed arguments. I am quite safe to conclude that the advantages of considering doctor's suggestion and visiting them on routine basis are overweigh its disadvantages and far outwiegh then relying on home therapies in many aspects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The candidate addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting a clear position (that turning away from traditional doctors to alternative medicine is a negative development). The introduction outlines this viewpoint, and body paragraphs present reasons, such as the lack of scientific research and potential health risks, while also acknowledging potential benefits like lower costs and natural ingredients. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, with points lacking depth and specific real-world examples. For instance, mentioning 'stress and mild body pain' is a relevant example, but the reasoning remains generalized rather than fully extended. This places the response comfortably at Band 6, as all parts of the task are addressed, but some areas are underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct points, moving from the introduction to disadvantages, then advantages, and a concluding stance. Cohesive devices are evident, such as 'In the first place', 'To put this issue into second perspective', and 'In conclusion'. However, some referencing is awkward or mechanical, such as 'To put this issue into second perspective which needs cosideration is that...', and punctuation issues around transitions create choppy phrasing. Paragraphing and logical flow are maintained well enough to support overall clarity, earning a solid Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'utilising alternative remedies', 'scientific research', and 'pharmaceutical drugs'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'guranteed' instead of 'guaranteed', 'conusme' instead of 'consume', 'compeletely' instead of 'completely', 'ingridients' instead of 'ingredients', and 'outwiegh' instead of 'outweigh'. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6, as the vocabulary control lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures (e.g., 'Although, I believe that using alternative medicines have some advantages. However, I firmly believe that it is a negative development.'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, such as sentence fragments and comma splices ('Although, I believe...', 'Futhermore, These are cheaper...'). Agreement errors also occur, such as 'using alternative medicines have'. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear, and communication is rarely impeded. This fits the Band 6 descriptor well, showing a mix of structures alongside persistent grammatical slips.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.