Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

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)

In this modern changing times, economy is getting more expensive and there is a huge rise in health related expenses, which is why numerous citizens try alternative medicines and treatements and believe it is better than visiting their usual doctor. This essay does not defend the statement and provides logical reasoning for it.

The underlying problem does not lie in trying other methods to fix your health, it highlight the issue, which is not visiting a doctor. People are trying different medicines or treatments, However, without a proper direction of a doctor, for example imagine an individual who suffers from common cold, will search their symptoms on google and sees that have something much serious, they will try to fix it themselves but will end paying paying alot more than earlier. for a doctor's visit.

As mentioned earlier, the issue was never with trying alternate methods but trying them without a qualified doctor's direction. If the individual person had visited the doctor directly and asked them to provide some alternate methods because they don't wish to spend too much money on medicines or treatment, the doctor would have been able to help them. Statistically this is alot more common occurance in modern generation that are between ages of 25-35.

In conclusion, not going to a doctor for a cheaper or quickier fix for health related issues can lead to worse outcomes in terms of both health and financial condition. It is very much a negatie developement and should not be practiced.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you regard replacing a usual doctor with alternative treatments as negative, and the conclusion restates this view. You also give relevant reasons, particularly the risk of self-diagnosis and the possibility of greater health and financial costs. However, the discussion does not fully explore the development in the prompt: it focuses mainly on people treating themselves without medical guidance, rather than explaining the risks and possible benefits of alternative medicine itself. The example of a cold and online symptom searches is relevant, but the claim about people aged 25–35 is not explained or supported. Develop each reason with a clearer link to the question and a specific, credible example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the ideas generally move from the problem to a proposed safer approach. Phrases such as “As mentioned earlier” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some references are unclear: “the issue” and “them” require readers to infer exactly what is meant. The second body paragraph largely repeats the first paragraph’s point about needing a doctor, rather than advancing the argument with a distinct reason. Improve progression by giving each body paragraph a separate focus and using clearer links between claims, explanations and examples.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “alternative medicines,” “qualified doctor,” “symptoms,” and “financial condition,” so the main ideas are understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems make the writing less precise. For example, “modern changing times” is unnatural, “health related expenses” would be clearer as “healthcare costs,” and “quickier fix” is misspelled and informal. There are also repeated general words such as “issue,” “trying,” and “fix.” Build a more precise range for discussing treatment and risk, and check spelling and natural word combinations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “If the individual person had visited the doctor directly … the doctor would have been able to help them.” However, control is uneven, and errors in sentence construction and punctuation sometimes make the meaning harder to follow. For instance, “it highlight the issue” has a subject–verb agreement error, while the long sentence beginning “People are trying different medicines or treatments” contains a comma splice and an incomplete clause around “sees that have something much serious.” The final phrase “for a doctor's visit” is also detached from the preceding sentence. Use shorter, complete sentences when needed, and check agreement, clause boundaries and punctuation.

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