Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-28

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)

I would like to start my anwer with a very famous quotation that "Health is wealth" so we all are very damn sure that good health plays a very important role in our life.Nowadays a huge number of people facing many health related issues.Regarding these health concerns they use many selfmade remedies at home which are not good.

Heading towards my main topic as we know that everything has its positive and negative both aspects.

Many people have alternate health issues which they are suffering at same time so they are using alot kf medicines without any recommendtion or doctors concern that is okay in some situtions but sometimes their results are not good.

Most people underestimate their health condition and let forgranted their disease so they try to treat that problem at home.Sometimes its good people should be aware about the basic health issues like common disease for example flu,fever,cough,headache etc.Awareness about medication is good beacuse in emergency you can diagonose and treat the problem.

I myself witness that a patient who was suffering from severe fever and nobody was there to took him hospital and that was emergancy sitution and we treat that patient at home that was a good experience.

Ontheother hand people are not familiar to medicine and their use so they have no idea about the severity and complexibility of misuse.Unfourtunetly they are unaware and do not image that how dangerous it can be.They use a medicine for so many other health problems without consulting or recommendation on doctor.

I personally knows a case in which a "Beta blocker" which is specifically prescribed for heart patients but people are using this medicine as a stress relief.They have no idea about the side effects and concequences. However better knowledge and awareneas lead good results whereas being unfamiliar with something has more disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt regarding whether trying alternative medicines instead of visiting a doctor is a positive or negative development, attempting to present arguments on both sides. However, the position is not always clearly stated or sustained throughout the essay. While the student attempts to present both advantages and disadvantages, such as mentioning basic awareness of common diseases like 'flu, fever, cough, headache' versus the dangers of misusing prescription drugs like 'Beta blocker', the ideas are often underdeveloped and lack thorough extension. The inclusion of personal anecdotes ('I myself witness that a patient...') helps illustrate the points, but the overall development tends to be somewhat anecdotal and disjointed rather than fully supported academic argumentation. Furthermore, the introduction includes conversational filler ('I would like to start my anwer with...') rather than an effective academic thesis statement. Therefore, the task is addressed only partially, aligning with Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays some organisation and attempts paragraphing to separate different ideas, but there is no clear overall progression or logical structure. The introduction of paragraphs is often abrupt, as seen with phrases like 'Heading towards my main topic as we know...' and 'Ontheother hand people are not familiar...'. Cohesive devices are either inadequate, inaccurate, or mechanical. For instance, spacing and punctuation errors with conjunctions (e.g., 'Ontheother', 'lot kf', 'forgranted') disrupt the flow. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the exact logical progression of arguments. Although the writer attempts to transition between points, the lack of sophisticated cohesive ties and poor sentence-to-sentence connection limits the score to Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'remedies', 'emergency', 'diagonose', and 'side effects'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and collocation that cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples include spelling errors such as 'anwer', 'selfmade', 'recommendtion', 'situtions', 'concequences', and 'awareneas'. There are also awkward collocations and word forms, such as 'let forgranted their disease', 'alternate health issues' instead of 'underlying health issues', and 'complexibility of misuse' instead of 'complexity'. While the writer attempts some less common vocabulary ('Beta blocker', 'severity'), the high frequency of lexical and spelling inaccuracies prevents the response from reaching a higher band, placing it firmly at Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence forms, but the range of structures is quite limited. Many sentences contain frequent grammatical errors that can cause difficulty for the reader. Issues include missing articles, incorrect prepositions, subject-verb agreement errors, and run-on sentences. For example, 'Nowadays a huge number of people facing many health related issues' lacks a main verb, and 'using alot kf medicines without any recommendtion or doctors concern' contains punctuation and spelling errors alongside missing apostrophes. Additionally, sentences like 'Unfourtunetly they are unaware and do not image that how dangerous it can be' display faulty subordination and awkward phrasing. Because frequent errors persist and affect readability, this warrants a band score of 5.0.

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