Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-09

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)

Nowadays, most of the people are keen to try different medications which belongs to themselves or suggested by their elders and they countinously ignoring visiting to a doctor. I strongly believe it is a negative developement and recomends that patients have to visit their doctors whenever they suffer with illness.

On the one hand, majority of the individuals avoid to go to the hospitals since they believe that it is time-consuming process and the doctors may charge an extra fee. Therefore, they start to follow the alternative medicines and treatments which are suggested by their ancessters or they know it through advertisments. Moreover, it has detrimental consequences as people may save their time or money at the moment but the medicine they take may affect their health for a long period. Furthermore, most of the women try different beauty products that they watched on social media through ads and when then follow these advertisements they come to know that their skin is not capable to those product and their skin become burnt.

On the other hand, the doctor's advice is really needed as they seperately check each patient and give medicine according to their health. Additionaly, the doctors also tell the patient that what is the specific problem and according to that they give medicine and guide patient about how to take the medicine, for example they will tell the individual that they have to take medicine before the meal of after the meal, they also specifies which tablet have eaten fully or which will be taken in halves as they know the required quantity. Moreover, treatments mentioned by our forefathers are not right in all the casses so contacting with doctor is neccessary before trying the treatments yourselves.

In conclusion, from my perspective medicines and treatments should always taken on the recomendation of the experts and never try different medications which occurs on social media. The government should need to abondon the pharmacies and local clinics who do not have license and on the verified doctors have to work in the field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider replacing a doctor’s advice with alternative treatments a negative development, and the conclusion reinforces this view. You address the main issue with relevant reasons, including delayed medical care, possible harm from unverified remedies, and the value of professional diagnosis and dosage guidance. The example about skin products gives the discussion some concrete support. However, some points are less fully developed than others: the claim that people avoid hospitals because of time and fees is asserted rather than illustrated, and the beauty-product example is not closely connected to alternative medicine. To strengthen the response, explain more directly how relying on such treatments can delay diagnosis or worsen a specific health problem, and keep examples tightly focused on the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting contrasting considerations, and a conclusion that restates your position. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. Overall, the ideas are arranged coherently, but some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, the first body paragraph moves from avoiding hospitals to beauty products without explaining the link, while the second repeats the need for doctors in several sentences. References such as “these advertisements” and “those product” also make the intended connections less smooth. Group related points together, use fewer repeated transitions, and make each paragraph develop one central idea in a clear sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “alternative medicines and treatments,” “detrimental consequences,” “specific problem,” and “required quantity.” These choices help communicate your main concerns. However, the range and control are limited by repeated general words such as “medicine,” “treatments,” and “different,” as well as noticeable spelling errors, including “developement,” “advertisments,” and “neccessary.” Some word combinations are also unnatural, for example “medications which belongs to themselves” and “skin is not capable to those product,” which can make the reader pause. Build a more precise vocabulary for medical care and risks, and check spelling and collocations carefully. For instance, distinguish between prescribed medication, unverified remedies, and professional medical advice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, using clauses with “since,” “as,” and “when,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make sentences difficult to follow. Examples include “most of the people are keen to try,” “the doctors may charge an extra fee” after a plural subject reference, and “the medicine they take may affect their health for a long period.” In the final paragraph, “medicines and treatments should always taken” is missing a verb form, and “the government should need to abondon” has an incorrect construction. Work on subject–verb agreement, articles, verb patterns, and sentence boundaries. Shorter, carefully checked sentences would improve accuracy while you continue practising complex structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.