Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-06

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)

Curerently, a increasing number of individuals with medical issues are finding alternative medicines and treatment rather then going to their usual physicians. However, it depend on the mindset of people either they think as this positive or negation. I believe, it's a personal believe of many people that they might feel better with homeopathic treatment or they may feel safe with the advice of their usual doctor.

The positive development depend on the situation of the persons health.If a human went to multiple doctors and still didn't get the result or health improved. He can move towards the other solutions like home remedies or using any homeopathic medicines. He might feel better with that. For example, My mother have some gastrovascular issues, she got treatment from well known doctors of the city but she still have same problems as usual. Now she's getting home made remedies and some homeopathic medines to deal with her gastric problems. She is feeling better with that and now she's avoiding to visit any other doctore.

On the other hand, there can be some negative developments as well. People usually didn't get proper treatment and think they are not recoverning.Not taking medicines on time and do not have a proper diet causes other health related problems as well. Additionally, they may suffer from some side effects and they think the doctor's treatment isn't working well and after that the changes the doctore again and again. For example; friend have some breathing issues since her childhood but this isn't resolve yet as she has many Health providers since her very young age. She's not completing her dose properly and compalining about her health problem isn't solved.

In conclusion, althoughi I believe positive developement is heaver than negative development. In case of emergency, people usually often go towards the proper medical treatment rather than using home remedies and any other type of treatment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both positive and negative aspects of people using alternative medicines instead of visiting standard doctors, maintaining a clear position that the positive development outweighs the negative. However, the task is addressed only partially because the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion of the positive side relies heavily on a single personal anecdote about the writer's mother with gastrovascular issues rather than exploring broader societal or medical arguments. Similarly, the negative aspect is illustrated with a personal example regarding a friend with breathing issues, but the explanation of why this is a negative development is vague and jumps between different points like not completing doses and changing doctors. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to fully develop ideas with more generalized support and reasoning rather than relying primarily on anecdotal examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates some basic organization with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, the positive development, the negative development, and the conclusion. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas, and the logical flow is often hindered by abrupt transitions and confusing phrasing, such as 'However, it depend on the mindset of people either they think as this positive or negation.' Cohesive devices are used, but they are frequently inaccurate, mechanical, or repetitive, as seen in the frequent reliance on 'For example' followed immediately by personal stories without smooth integration into the body paragraphs. Additionally, referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult to follow which person or situation the writer is referring to in certain sentences. To achieve a higher score, the writer must ensure a more logical progression between sentences and use a wider, more natural variety of cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey basic ideas about health problems and treatments. However, there is a noticeable presence of spelling and word-choice errors that cause some difficulty for the reader and impede smooth communication. Examples include 'Curerently' instead of currently, 'a increasing' instead of an increasing, 'rather then' instead of rather than, 'negation' instead of negative, and 'compalining' instead of complaining. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'gastrovascular issues' and 'homeopathic treatment,' but these attempts are accompanied by persistent inaccuracies in word form and collocation. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to expand their lexical range, ensure correct word forms, and eliminate frequent spelling mistakes by carefully proofreading their work.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response shows a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex ones. These attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty, leading to frequent errors that can cause difficulty for the reader. There are persistent issues with subject-verb agreement, such as 'it depend,' 'she have,' and 'friend have,' as well as article errors like 'a increasing number' and 'the changes the doctore.' Punctuation and sentence boundaries also show weakness, resulting in run-on sentences and fragments. To improve to a higher band, the writer must demonstrate better control over basic grammatical rules, such as verb agreements and plurals, while successfully incorporating a wider variety of accurate complex sentence forms.

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