Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-02

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)

Nowadays, the number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments without asking with thier doctor.The alternative medicines and treatment is positive for some side and also negative side for this .I strongly believe this is negative devlopment.

The alternative madicines is refil for some time but not direct for problems. The alternative medicines is use for normal health problems like , fevar,headache,commen cold etc.This is use in travelling or any other place. This is not use in daily life.people with health problems are trying ayurvedic and homeopathic alternative medicines and treatments.They effect in your problems but not end of problems .

The alternative medicines and treatments is dangerous for us.Some time people are use alternative medicines and treatments they are side-effect to effect our health problems and open new health problems.The alternative medicines and treatments uses are very risky.The doctor give right medicines and treatments to people's health problems.

Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments.That is big problems for the world.Goverment are uses ads to trying to people are understand the not use alternative medicines and treatments.The doctor also give advice to do not trying any medicines and treatment wituout asking any doctor.

In conclusion, people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor that is a negative development.That is essue with some big health problems. The understand to people they do not trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by expressing a clear position that alternative medicines are a negative development. However, the ideas remain limited and under-developed throughout the essay. While the writer mentions some reasons, such as alternative treatments only offering temporary relief ('refil for some time') and potentially causing side effects, these points lack adequate extension, specific examples, or deeper elaboration. The supporting arguments tend to be repetitive rather than progressively built. To move to a higher band, the writer would need to fully develop their ideas with well-explained examples and explore multiple facets of the argument, such as the economic or cultural factors driving people toward alternative medicine, rather than relying on brief, generalised assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is some organisation evident with basic paragraphing and an attempt at an introduction and conclusion, but the essay lacks a clear overall progression. Ideas jump abruptly between sentences without smooth logical transitions. Cohesive devices are basic, repetitive, and at times inaccurate, such as the overuse of demonstrative pronouns like 'This is' and 'That is' to link sentences, which creates a mechanical and disjointed feel. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal logical flow within paragraphs is weak. To achieve a higher level, the writer needs to ensure ideas flow logically from one to the next, use a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices, and maintain clear referencing throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task, featuring basic and repetitive terms such as 'health problems', 'alternative medicines', and 'treatments'. There are noticeable lexical errors, including word-choice and word-form inaccuracies such as 'devlopment', 'madicines', 'refil', 'fevar', 'commen', 'wituout', and 'essue', along with frequent spelling mistakes. These errors create noticeable strain for the reader at times. To progress to a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire to include less common and more precise vocabulary, demonstrate better control over word formation and collocations, and significantly improve spelling accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent attempts at complex or compound forms that are often faulty. There are persistent, frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including subject-verb agreement issues ('the number of people... are trying', 'Goverment are uses'), missing or incorrect articles ('the doctor give right medicines'), preposition errors ('asking with thier doctor'), and awkward verb tenses and forms ('They effect in your problems'). These errors frequently cause difficulty for the reader. To move up, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of grammatical structures with a higher proportion of error-free sentences and improved control over basic syntactic rules.

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