Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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 6.5)

In today's contemporary society, taking medicines without consulting doctors has become increasingly important. Some people argue it is completely fine to take over-the-counter drugs during flue and fever, while others argue people should recognize their medical conditions before taking any random medicine. I completely agree with the view of visiting doctors and in this essay I will explain why.

There are several reasons of why people believe taking medicine over-the-counter drugs by themselves and trying traditional medicine practices. Firstly, in some cases patients underestimate the symtoms of disease and perceive them as normal. Consequently, they start taking some common medicines according to their symtoms or visiting to botanical practitioner. Secondly, getting the full body check-up and consulting experienced doctor can be quite expensive, which is not afforded by low-income families. Resultantly, they prefer to treat their health conditions by themselves and trying conventional methods including herbal treatments and ayurvedic medicines.

On the other hand, visiting doctors can have several advantages. Firstly, doctors can first conduct several body tests and then give us personalized medicines according to our medical condition, which increases the likelihood of our quick recovery and can prevent us from anti-biotic resistance. People who take anti-biotics in every condition, even in the case where bacteria causing infection is completely different from bacteria present in anti-biotic medicines can cause anti-biotic resistance. Secondly, doctors are experienced and professional on their work, they can prescribe medicines much better than herbalists, which can further decrease the possibilty of malignant conditions.

In my opinion, although conventional methods are beneficial in certain common conditions, its excessive use and practices in serious conditions can be fatal. By contrast, getting full body check-up and consulting experienced doctors is the best approach as it can provide us with advanced treatments without worsening of an illness.

All things considered, traditional medicines and random drugs are affordable but can worsen our medical conditions, consulting doctors and getting personlized medicines are the best suited approach, although it is costly. The advantages of visiting doctors outweigh its disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate addresses the prompt by discussing whether relying on alternative medicines and avoiding doctors is a positive or negative development, ultimately taking a clear position that it is a negative development. The response is divided into logical arguments, acknowledging cost factors in the second paragraph before arguing for the safety and expertise of professional medical practitioners in the third paragraph. However, some ideas are slightly repetitive, particularly the concluding thoughts on cost and health risks in the final paragraph. The position is maintained throughout, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0. Because the ideas are supported and extended despite minor over-generalizations, a score of 6.5 is well-justified.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, body paragraphs addressing different viewpoints, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'On the other hand' are employed to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, though occasional minor slip-ups occur, such as 'its excessive use' where the pronoun agreement is slightly imprecise. Overall, the logical organization meets the criteria for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7.0 for clear logical progression, but limited by some formulaic cohesive features.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'contemporary society', 'over-the-counter drugs', 'malignant conditions', and 'botanical practitioner'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'during flue and fever' (flu), 'symtoms' (spelling error), 'visiting to botanical practitioner', and 'getting the full body check-up'. Additionally, 'anti-biotic resistance' is repeated multiple times. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6.0 category, as the vocabulary is sufficient for the task despite inaccuracies in less common words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'People who take anti-biotics in every condition... can cause anti-biotic resistance'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'taking medicines without consulting doctors has become increasingly important' (inappropriate adjective choice for the context), 'reasons of why', 'is not afforded by', and 'professional on their work'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but structural inaccuracies persist throughout. The control of grammar corresponds to a Band 6.0, as errors occur frequently in complex structures but rarely impede overall understanding.

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