Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04
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)
In my opinion,it is worst idea to use alternatives medicines and treatments instead of visiting to their doctors or going to hospital
People are not educated in today age also Uneducated people believe in superstation
Superstition is the main reason of people using alternatives medicines and treatments only doctor can treat better to sick people
using of alternative medicines and treatments are waste of money only they waste their moneyu un necessarily without knowing anything.people are very honest do they easily believe other and the scammer trap them .I am saying this because i also got trap on such type of silly things how silly i was that i believe those scammers or fake people i remember ge Time when i was very sick suffering form fever None medicine is working on me so
one man tried to get profit about my health he Said that i Will be fine if i use alternative medicine anf treatment and he also mentioned that the medicines are available with him and i woll have to pay 1000 for per medicine additional i have to pay to e charge of looking me by him also so i believe him nad pay all money and used too believe that i will be fine after using that medicine givin by him but i was wrong at that time taht medicine can't do anything at last i vist a good hospital and well knowledge doctor hr advised me some midicine i take them and i become normally form another day so from my own experience i would like to suggest people to avoide alternative medicine and hospital
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the task partially by presenting a clear personal position that relying on alternative medicines is a negative development. However, the ideas remain limited and under-developed throughout the essay. The argument relies heavily on a single personal anecdote about being scammed, rather than exploring wider societal implications such as public health risks or the potential benefits of regulated complementary therapies. While your personal experience offers a relevant example, the lack of broader supporting points prevents the response from reaching a higher level of development. To improve, you need to expand your arguments with varied, well-reasoned examples that cover multiple facets of the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
The essay displays some organization, but there is no clear overall progression due to the complete lack of paragraphing and punctuation. The entire response is written as a single, continuous block of text, which makes the flow difficult to follow. Furthermore, cohesive devices are largely absent or inadequate, leading to abrupt transitions between ideas, such as moving directly from superstition to personal history without proper linking. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, leaving the reader to guess the connections between clauses. To achieve a higher band, you must structure your writing into logical paragraphs with clear topic sentences and use appropriate cohesive markers to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive, with frequent errors in word choice, word form, and spelling that cause some difficulty for the reader. For instance, phrases like 'worst idea' instead of 'worst possible idea', and incorrect forms such as 'alternatives medicines', 'moneyu', and 'nad' hinder communication. You attempt to use less common items like 'superstation' and 'scammer', but inaccurate spelling and collocation restrict your lexical score. To move forward, you should focus on expanding your vocabulary range, learning correct word forms and collocations, and checking your spelling carefully to ensure your meaning is conveyed precisely.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The grammatical range is restricted, consisting primarily of simple and faulty complex sentence forms. There are frequent errors in verb tenses, articles, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation throughout the text. The complete absence of punctuation marks makes it difficult to determine sentence boundaries, leading to run-on sentences such as 'people are very honest do they easily believe other and the scammer trap them'. Additionally, errors like 'None medicine is working', 'ge Time', and 'vist a good hospital' occur frequently and can cause confusion for the reader. To improve, you need to practice forming accurate simple and complex sentences, apply correct punctuation, and ensure consistent control over basic grammatical structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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