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)

In todays time, a large amount of individual who have any type of health issues are consuming another medicines and methods in exchange of meeting their regular doctor. While, I do strongly agree that it is a negative upgrade, and the reasons will be discussed in upcoming paragraphs.

Initially, in this modren era, whenever human feel any type of health problem so they like to go to their family doctor, but some of the people like to take another medicines and want to experience other methods, but these steps may cause them some serious disabalities like, normal person don't know the exact sault of the medicine and some time they can consume wrong one, or even some type of treatments like, if a person is suffering from back pain and he is trying to solve it at home, so this can cause them some serious problems and can be very harmfull for their life. Moreover, this is not a good option to try somthing different instead of going to their doctor, because the most common reason is that, their personal doctor knows them perfectly and also they are trustified, so they give them genuine review and products or because of their good relations they do not charge them or even they preffer them some exercises to do instead of eating medical items .

On the other hand, there is always a benifit of visiting a doctor instead of heaving alternative medicines and treatments, but some remaining people don't like that because they think that doctors are fraud and they always want to make money, even sometime people do not have free hand so they don't preffer doctor more. Although, some like to have more privacy and don't want to share their personal things because they are introvert, even more, they also consider that hiring a doctor can be long term solution, but they want results in short period.

In the conclusion, prescribing a doctor is always a good option for having a genuine results, because trying another things may cause some seriours issues like organ failure becuase of wrong medicine, and also some fracture problems, so these can be dangerous for their health. Overall, in my opinion it is not a good step to try several things, therefore always preffer to go to a doctor if people have any health concerns.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider replacing a regular doctor with alternative treatments a negative development, and you return to this view in the conclusion. You address relevant reasons, including the risk of using the wrong treatment and the value of a doctor who knows a patient’s history. You also acknowledge why some people avoid doctors, such as cost, distrust, privacy, and wanting quick results. However, these points are not developed equally: the risks are explained at some length, while the reasons people choose alternatives are mostly listed rather than explored. The examples of organ failure and fractures are also asserted without explaining how they might result. Develop fewer points with clearer explanation and a specific example to make the argument more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs presenting reasons and counterpoints, and a conclusion that restates your position. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “On the other hand,” and “In the conclusion” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several ideas are joined into long sentences, and the first body paragraph shifts between risks, doctors’ familiarity with patients, trust, and cost. Some transitions are also mechanical or unclear; for example, “Although” introduces a point without a clear contrast, and “there is always a benefit” does not clearly connect to the preceding argument. Group related ideas more carefully and use clearer sentence boundaries and references to improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You attempt vocabulary relevant to health and medical care, including “alternative medicines and treatments,” “privacy,” “organ failure,” and “long term solution.” However, the range is often basic or repetitive, and inaccurate word choice or spelling sometimes makes the meaning harder to understand. For example, “negative upgrade” is not a natural way to describe a development, “sault of the medicine” appears to mean the result or effect of a medicine, and “trustified” is not an appropriate word for a trusted doctor. There are also repeated general terms such as “things,” “some type,” and “good option.” Choose more precise, natural collocations and check spelling; this will make your ideas clearer and more appropriate for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning with “because,” “whenever,” and “although,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, some sentences contain several clauses joined together, which leads to errors in sentence structure and punctuation. For instance, “whenever human feel any type of health problem so they like to go” combines a time clause and “so” awkwardly, while “Although, some like to have more privacy” uses a subordinate conjunction without completing a clear contrast. There are also errors in agreement and articles, as in “a large amount of individual” and “human feel.” Use shorter, controlled sentences alongside complex ones, and check subject–verb agreement, article use, and punctuation when revising.

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.