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)

Nowadays, it is increasingly common for a growing number of individuals with different health issues to try to change their medication and treatments rather than visiting their usual doctor. This is mainly because they do not feel better by using the same medicines and have trust issues regarding the treatments, such as whether they are good or beneficial for their health or not. In my view, although this has some positive aspects, I believe it is negative because by altering the medicines or treatments, many people might suffer from different symptoms by taking different medications.

There are several reasons why many people with varying health issues are trying to get alteration of medicines and treatments rather than get treatment from their usual doctor who deal with that health issue because he already know how to deal with the specific problem. The primary reason is that patient does not feel better by getting same treatment from usual doctors. This is because when a patient get same medicines every time with doctor's appointment, then he might think the doctor is not putting efforts of changing the medicines for their problems. Meanwhile, that is only right way to treat with patients to put them on track first, they know how to deal with a particular disease. For example, if a patient go to his usual doctor for simple fever then if he recommend the medicine related to his disease then the patient might think, they are giving wrong prescription among disease. Therefore, it would be your choice either to change medicine on your own or by visiting usual doctor.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to this development. On the positive side, nowadays people are well aware of their common disease like headache, toothache and they know which medicine suits them. This can reduce the stress of visiting the doctor and take a prescribed meal told by a doctor particularly when you are suffering from these common diseases. However, i believe that positive aspects are more signifiacnt beacuse everyone is well known to their diseases and they are little aware of the medicine usage among them. For instance, if a person who has headache then he will surely know to take panadol to get rid of headache.

Another important consideration is that it might be harmful, by using the alternative medicines if original medicine is not available in the market might not suit the patients. By changing the medicine, patient might suffer from stomach issues ,etc.4

In conclusion, alternative medications has become mainly because every patient has different medicine, that may not suit them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially, as the student struggles to maintain a consistent position throughout the essay. The prompt asks whether turning to alternative medicines and treatments instead of a usual doctor is positive or negative. The introduction states that the development is negative, but the body paragraphs frequently shift perspective, discussing both advantages and disadvantages in a somewhat contradictory manner without fully resolving the main thesis. Ideas are limited and remain under-developed, relying on repetitive points about common illnesses like headaches rather than exploring broader implications. For instance, the argument in the second paragraph regarding why patients doubt their doctors is underdeveloped and unclear. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to present a clear, fully developed position right from the start, supporting all main arguments with extended reasoning and relevant examples that directly answer the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The essay displays some organization, but there is a lack of clear overall progression from paragraph to paragraph. Cohesive devices are often used inaccurately or repetitively, such as the overuse of transitional phrases like 'Meanwhile' and 'For instance' where they do not logically connect the ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs is weak, making it difficult for the reader to follow the flow of argument. For example, the final paragraph consists of only a single fragmented sentence, failing to provide a cohesive and satisfying conclusion. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, as seen with pronouns like 'they' and 'it' which do not always have unambiguous antecedents. To improve, the writer should ensure that each paragraph has a distinct central topic, connected smoothly to the next using a wider range of appropriate and accurate cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic ideas about health and treatments. There is an attempt to use less common items, but this results in noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'take a prescribed meal' instead of 'take prescribed medicine', or 'common disease like headache' instead of 'common ailments'. Furthermore, there are several word form and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'signifiacnt' and 'medications has become'. These errors occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader and impede smooth communication. To reach the next band, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire and practice using words in their correct contextual collocations, ensuring proper spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on basic sentence forms with frequent attempts at complex sentences that are often faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors in subject-verb agreement and singular/plural usage, such as 'a patient get same medicines' and 'everyone is well known to their diseases'. Article usage and prepositions inside grammatical patterns also show persistent inaccuracy, for example, 'go to his usual doctor for simple fever' and 'treatment from usual doctors'. These frequent errors can cause difficulty and confusion for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to demonstrate greater control over complex sentence structures and significantly reduce the frequency of basic grammatical errors by carefully proofreading verb forms and noun phrases.

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