Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-11

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, large number of people are experimenting with alternate medicines and treatments in place of regular doctors. While, visiting a doctor is the very important decision one should make depending on the situation at the time. In my opinion, trying options can be helpful in some cases but most of the time can have negative impacts.

A doctors education is one of the most difficult studies, being a doctor in any country takes a lot of effort. Therefore, using their knowledge taking their professional opinion for certain issues become necessary. Some people avoid doctors because of medical bills and seek alternative options. For example, one of my friend was having backache from sometime, instead of going to doctor she did yoga and streaching consistently. She might have had cured it temporarily but she didnt know the under lying condition of that pain.

As for alternative medical resources, if some use of GLP drugs because they are advertised as alternative to excesise. Most people are fasinated by it, they think they dont have to do anything and will get slim without effort. But they dont know how adversly it is effecting without consulting doctors. Another alternative source people try are web based dental procedures like invisible liners, though it is well researched procedure and done in inspection of team of doctors, but cannot be trusted fully.

In the end, health is wealth - seeking professional help is important. Alternate sources can result in sever other health issue which they have not even had before.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you see trying alternatives as potentially helpful in some cases but negative overall. You address the question with relevant examples, including the friend who used yoga for back pain and the use of GLP drugs without medical advice. These examples help explain the risks of delaying diagnosis or overlooking side effects. However, the positive side is only briefly acknowledged, and some claims—particularly about online dental treatments—are introduced without explaining how they support your overall judgement. Develop both the limited benefits and the risks more fully, and make the link between each example and your conclusion explicit. This would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs give examples, and the final paragraph restates the importance of professional care. This gives the reader an overall direction. Some connections, however, are unclear or mechanical. For instance, “As for alternative medical resources, if some use of GLP drugs” does not clearly introduce the point, and the shift from weight-loss drugs to dental aligners is abrupt. The final paragraph also repeats the general conclusion without drawing together the examples. Use clearer topic sentences and linking phrases that show whether each example illustrates a risk, a qualification, or a contrast. More explicit links between sentences would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “professional opinion,” “medical bills,” “underlying condition,” and “consulting doctors,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more specific terms such as “GLP drugs” and “web based dental procedures.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “alternate” where “alternative” is intended, “streaching,” “fasinated,” and “adversly.” Some phrases are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “alternative medical resources” and “sever other health issue.” These do not prevent the main message from being understood, but they reduce precision. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for discussing treatment, risks, and medical supervision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a conditional idea in “if some use of GLP drugs” and a contrast in the opening. However, some sentence structures are incomplete or faulty, which sometimes makes relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “Some people avoid doctors because of medical bills and seek alternative options” needs clearer parallel structure, while “though it is well researched procedure and done in inspection of team of doctors” lacks articles and has an unclear grammatical construction. There are also errors in agreement and verb forms, as in “certain issues become necessary” and “it is effecting.” Practise building complete clauses and checking articles, agreement, and verb forms, especially in longer sentences.

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