Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Nowadays, Increasing in number of people with health problems are choosing alternative medicine and treatments rather than consulting the doctors. although some of alternative treatments are benificial in certain circumstances. i would believe that it has negative development because it can delay proper diagnosis and medical treatment.

one advantages of alternative medicine and treatments may help people manage minor health pronblems. for example practices such as acupuncture, knee pain and massages and certain raditional remedice may be effective for minor health problems. it can also reduce the pain and discomfort.

however, relying on alternative medicines instead of visiting a doctor can be dangerous.symptoms such as persistence pain, weight loss, muscle pain can caused by relatively minor conditions, but carelessness from this minor cam cause serious illness

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

Your response addresses the task only minimally, and your position that alternative medicine is a negative development is stated, but the ideas remain very limited and under-developed. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response is well short of the two hundred and fifty-word minimum. To achieve a higher band, you need to fully develop your arguments with extended explanations and relevant examples, ensuring you meet the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation with paragraph breaks, but there is no clear overall progression across the text. Cohesive devices are minimal, inadequate, and sometimes repetitive, as seen with transitions like 'one advantages' and 'however'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear. To improve, you should use a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices to smoothly link your ideas and ensure logical progression throughout the essay.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. There are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form, such as 'benificial', 'pronblems', and 'raditional remedice', which cause some difficulty for the reader. To reach a higher band, you need to expand your lexical range, incorporate less common vocabulary with greater precision, and eliminate spelling and word-form errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You demonstrate a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple forms, and your attempts at complex sentences are faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, and article usage, such as 'Increasing in number of people', 'consulting the doctors', and 'cam cause serious illness', which cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, you must increase your grammatical accuracy and practice using a wider variety of complex sentence structures error-free.

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