Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-29

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)

In recent years, an increasing number of people with health issues are trying to use alternative medicines and treatments rather than consulting a doctor. I believe that this is both a positive and a negative development.

Discussing the points of positive development, the prime reason is that some people can afford the treatment from doctors as they are costly. Explaining further, the poor people who are not able to obtain the treatment from specialists, try other methods. As they do other alternative methods such as taking medicine directly from a medical store or they intake some other homemade liquids which are beneficial for health and it keeps them physically fit. The second one is that if there is a small injury or not a serious condition in that situation, they consult the one who has experienced that and they try to solve it without the need of professionals.

Discussing the negative development, the first one is that not every situation could be tackled by taking a simple alternative method or treatment. In some serious conditions in which doctors are required to be present. Explaining further, at home there is not that much equipment present as that doctor has. So, if there is a condition in which a person has a knee operation, this cannot be done at home. They have to visit the doctor because they have knowledge about how to do the operation and have well-equipped equipment.

To conclude, poor people who are not able to afford the treatment from a doctor as it is expensive. On the other hand, not every situation can be tackled by alternative methods that require proper treatment from a doctor.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of people using alternative medicines instead of visiting doctors. A clear position is stated in the introduction: 'I believe that this is both a positive and a negative development.' However, the development of ideas lacks depth and clarity in places. For instance, the positive body paragraph confuses affordability issues with minor injuries, arguing first that poor people cannot afford doctors and turn to home remedies, and then shifting to 'if there is a small injury... they consult the one who has experienced that.' Furthermore, the claim that taking medicine directly from a store keeps people physically fit is under-developed and generalises broadly. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments would benefit from better extension and sharper focus on the core issues of alternative medicine versus conventional healthcare.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is frequently mechanical and repetitive, such as starting sentences with 'Discussing the points of positive development, the prime reason is...' and 'Explaining further...'. Additionally, referencing and logical progression are occasionally strained; for example, the transition between discussing affordability and minor injuries lacks smooth logical connectors. Paragraph transitions are rigid, which pulls down the score despite the clear mechanical formatting of the essay.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The lexical resource is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but it remains somewhat limited and repetitive. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'alternative medicines', 'consulting a doctor', and 'professionals', but also produces awkward word choices and imprecise collocations, such as 'they intake some other homemade liquids' instead of 'consume herbal remedies', and 'well-equipped equipment', which is tautological. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lack of precise medical or academic terminology restricts the range of vocabulary. The vocabulary deployed is sufficient to convey the basic meaning, but errors in collocation and restricted flexibility keep it at a Band 5.5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some command over basic syntactic structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'people with health issues are trying to use' where the progressive aspect is slightly unnatural for general trends, 'some people can afford the treatment from doctors as they are costly' (where the pronoun reference 'they' is ambiguous), and 'In some serious conditions in which doctors are required to be present' (which is a sentence fragment). Furthermore, phrases like 'have well-equipped equipment' contain redundancies. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 6.0.

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