Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-16

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, a large number of individuals with health issues are trying other medicines and treatments instead of visiting their regular doctor. From my perspective, it is a negative development because it can potentially lead to severe consequences such as it can delay diagnosis of a life-threatening disease. Although alternative medication can give temporary relief, people can face potential hazards in the long run.

The main drawback of this is that people do not visit their usual doctor and use different homeopathic treatments at home, which can affect other parts of the body. For example, my friends's mother ignored early symptoms and avoided diagnostic tests and she was diagnosed with last stage colon cancer later on. Consequently, patients should go to their primary care providers for their routine check-ups.

On the other hand, people have occupied schedules and they do not have time to visit healthcare practitioners. People rely on home-made medicines which give them relief for a short time. Although these treatments are easy and beneficial, laboratory testified drugs are necessary to eradicate the disease from its root.

A medical practitioner has a strong knowledge of his profession and he knows which medicines and tests can be used to treat a particular condition. For example, special tests are performed to diagnose TB, otherwise it can damage many other organs if not treated on time.

In conclusion, alternative therapies such as, meditation and yoga can be used with main treatment for pain reduction, but follow-up to a general physician is compulsory to avoid lethal diseases.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position that relying on alternative medicines instead of visiting a doctor is a negative development. The essay develops this position with relevant examples, such as the anecdote about a friend's mother ignoring early cancer symptoms, and arguments regarding delayed diagnoses and the need for medical expertise. While some ideas could be extended further for greater depth, the response meets the core requirements of the prompt and maintains a clear, consistent stance throughout. The arguments are directly relevant to the question asked and the overall scope of the task is adequately covered, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors. For a higher score, the points could be elaborated with broader societal implications rather than relying solely on personal anecdotes.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments, such as the dangers of delayed diagnosis versus the reasons why people turn to alternative remedies due to busy schedules. Cohesive devices are employed, including transition words like 'Although', 'For example', and 'In conclusion'. However, some cohesive ties are mechanical or slightly repetitive, and referencing is occasionally less clear, such as the shift between discussing personal friends and broader societal trends. Paragraph transitions could be smoother to establish a more rigorous logical progression throughout the text, placing this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully communicating ideas about health, treatments, and medical practitioners. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'eradicate', 'primary care providers', and 'life-threatening disease'. However, there are also noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'occupied schedules' instead of 'busy schedules', 'laboratory testified drugs' instead of 'clinically tested drugs', and 'last stage colon cancer' instead of 'stage four or late-stage colon cancer'. Spelling is generally accurate, but these lexical slips prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding the reader's understanding.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinating clauses with 'although', 'because', and 'which'. There are several successful complex structures, but grammatical errors are noticeable. For instance, there is a redundancy and punctuation issue in the opening sentence ('such as it can delay'), a missing article ('follow-up to a general physician'), and slight awkwardness in phrasing like 'friends's mother' (possessive form error). Punctuation is generally functional, although comma splices and unnecessary commas appear, such as in the concluding sentence ('alternative therapies such as, meditation'). While errors occur frequently, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument without severe difficulty.

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

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