Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-05

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)

At this moment in time, an increasing number of people with heath problems are choosing alternative medicines and treatments rather than visiting their routine doctor. However, sometimes taking an alternative for the medicines may provide certain kind of benefit. In spite of the fact, I believe that this is a negative development especially when people use them as a replacement.

To begin with, one possible advantage of having alternatives for the medicines is that some treatments can help people manage their minor health issues. For example, when a person is in stress they might do yoga or some exercise instead of approaching to their physician because they believe that doing yoga and some physical workout helps in reducing stress and anxiety level in comparison to getting a standard medicine as it have fewer side effects. These kind of things only helps when it is observed under a medical treatment and professional guidance.

On the other hand, depending on the unconventional medicine and treatment can lead to a serious health consequences. The most important concern is that several people are suffering from chronic diseases like kidney is an chronic disease and if it's not be diagnos scientifically then is may lead to serious life and death case. For example, when a person is suffering from stomachace issue and they rely on the substituted treatment there may be a something like liver syrosis, still the person is taking home remidies not viting to a doctor then it will react negatively on their body. I believe person should be be as much as less reliable on alternative medicines.

In conclusion, despite the fact that certain alternative treatments and medications lead to some benefits, but person should go to the professionalise treatment first.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting a clear position that relying on alternative medicines instead of doctors is a negative development. Relevant ideas are introduced, such as the use of yoga for stress management versus the severe risks of ignoring chronic or acute conditions like stomach issues or liver cirrhosis. However, some parts of the task are developed more fully than others. While the dangers of neglecting serious medical diagnoses are highlighted, the explanation regarding minor health issues tends to be repetitive and is somewhat under-developed. To move to a higher band, the writer would need to extend and fully support all ideas with more precise examples and a consistently clear rationale throughout every paragraph.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments, with the body paragraphs divided into advantages of minor alternatives and the severe consequences of avoiding professional care. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition 'In spite of the fact' is incomplete, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in phrases like 'there may be a something like'. To achieve a higher score, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that every sentence flows logically into the next without abrupt transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate main ideas about health and alternative treatments. The response attempts less common vocabulary, such as 'chronic diseases', 'professional guidance', and 'liver syrosis', but this is accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and word form. Examples of lexical errors include 'stomachace', 'remidies', 'viting', and the awkward collocation 'substituted treatment' instead of 'substitute treatment'. These errors occasionally cause slight hesitation for the reader. To reach the next band, the writer needs to expand their lexical range, demonstrate better control over less common lexical items, and eliminate spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as conditional and concessive clauses. However, there is a limited control of grammar, and frequent errors in basic patterns persist. Issues include article misuse ('the medicines', 'a something'), singular and plural agreement ('kidney is an chronic disease', 'person should be be as much as less reliable'), and awkward prepositions or verb forms ('not be diagnos scientifically', 'is may lead'). Although these errors do not completely impede communication, they do cause difficulty for the reader at times. To progress, the writer must improve accuracy in basic grammatical structures and ensure that complex sentences are constructed without recurring errors.

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