Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14
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)
In recent years , the health problems in the number of individuals badly increasing .They try change medicine or treatment instead of visiting doctor.In my opinion this is a negative development because it has several dangerous effect on health.
The first main reason why this is a negative development .Individuals have to face the numerous deaseas such as weekness , laziness ,sugar or obesity .For example individual stay at home with their diseases or not go hospital or doctor for check up .This can lead individual to severe disease .
Another reason is that eating junkfood or laying at home free nothing to do anything or if they keep away from daily exercise ,walk or jolking.If they have no time for this only do half an hour exercise or morning walk especially that refresh their mind or protect from different diseases . Furthermore eating healthy food or ingridients.Try to better their daily routine reading story books , watching movie some time , use the medicine daily if it is perscribe by doctor.
In the conclusion , I beleive that it is a negative development
.People use different medicine or treatment . Rather then , going to doctor for a checkup.Doctor analyse the individuals by different test if nothing problem in their report doctor advise them to do regular walk only.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response presents a clear position that choosing alternative medicines is a negative development, and supports this with arguments related to health risks. However, the task achievement is hindered by two main factors. First, the word count is 220 words, failing to meet the minimum 250-word requirement, which constitutes an automatic penalty. Second, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and wanders into peripheral topics such as junk food, laziness, and daily exercise routines rather than focusing centrally on the implications of substituting professional medical care with alternative treatments. While the writer covers the prompt, the ideas lack sufficient depth and extension, aligning best with a Band 5.0 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is divided into paragraphs, though the logical progression is frequently disrupted. The introduction clearly states the writer's stance, but the body paragraphs shift abruptly between health conditions, lifestyle habits like eating junk food, and general exercise advice without clear transitions. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or repetitively, such as starting multiple sentences and paragraphs with 'Another reason is that' or 'In the conclusion'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs is disjointed. Referencing and substitution are occasionally unclear, making it sometimes difficult for the reader to follow the exact line of thought. These features place the response firmly at Band 5.0 for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, with noticeable errors in word choice and spelling that reflect a limited range. Examples of lexical inaccuracies include 'badly increasing' instead of 'increasing significantly', 'change medicine' instead of 'alternative medicines', 'deaseas' for diseases, 'weekness' for weakness, and 'jolking' for jogging. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'perscribe' and 'analysis', but these contain spelling errors and awkward collocations. While the meaning can mostly be deciphered, the frequency of lexical errors and the restricted vocabulary range prevent the response from achieving a higher band, aligning well with the Band 5.0 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences predominate, and attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty, incomplete, or ungrammatical. For instance, sentences like 'This can lead individual to severe disease' lack plural agreement, and 'If they have no time for this only do half an hour exercise or morning walk especially that refresh their mind' are structurally fragmented and confusing. Punctuation errors are also common, such as spaces before commas ('years ,') and incomplete terminal punctuation. Frequent grammatical errors cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the grammatical range, placing this performance at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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