Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-13

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 6.0)

In today's era, with the advancements in technology and knowledge, a larger group of people with certain health conditions are now trying alternative remedies and treatments instead of going to their specific doctor. This is a negative development as this can have disastrous effects on people's health.

People are now using internet to find cure for their health conditions. As artificial intelligence and social media apps have become advanced and accessible to a large number of consumers, therfore, people with different types of diseases often try to find remedies online using these tools. They often see it as a cheap way of getting treatment as they do not have to pay higher checkup fee to doctors.For instance, in many backward areas of my country, when people have a headache, instead of visiting doctor, they just search for the medicines online and purchase it from local pharmacies without any prescription. This can badly affect their health and may pose irreversible damage to their body organs such as kidneys and lungs.

Using alternative medicines are considered normal even in countries with higher literacy rate. Some individuals are against the alopathic medicines because they believe that these medicines have severe side effects. Due to this reason, they try to use home remedies or herbal medicines for their treatments. For example, people often drink coffee to cure headache and for cough, they usually make a blend of the leaves of a specific plant or eat honey. In this way, they might cure their disease, however, in the long term they may end up causing more damage to their body because of these unapproved treatments. As Coffee contains caffeine, its increased usage can cause deficiency of vitamin D in body. Eating large quantity of honey can cause glucose spikes in blood.

In conclusion, Relying on technology and social media for treatment and using unapproved herbal treatments can cause damage to one's body organs and can worsen health conditions in long term. This is a negative development as it can have disastrous effects on people's health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction to the conclusion: you consider replacing a usual doctor with alternative treatments a negative development. You support this with relevant examples, including people buying medicines after searching online and using home remedies such as coffee or honey. This addresses the question and gives the reader reasons for your view. However, some claims are not fully explained or are too broad—for example, the link between coffee and vitamin D deficiency is asserted without showing how it supports the argument about avoiding medical advice. The discussion also focuses on online self-medication and home remedies, while the risks of choosing alternative treatment instead of consulting a doctor could be explained more directly. Develop each example with a clearer explanation of its consequences.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present separate reasons, and the conclusion restates your position. The examples generally follow the points they illustrate, so the main line of argument is easy to follow. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. For instance, “Due to this reason” refers to the belief that conventional medicines have side effects, but the relationship between that belief and the specific remedies listed could be made clearer. The repeated use of “For example” and “In this way” also makes linking somewhat mechanical. Improve progression by making the topic sentence of each paragraph more specific and using clearer references to connect each example to its consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “alternative remedies,” “health conditions,” “prescription,” “herbal medicines,” and “irreversible damage.” These choices help communicate the subject and your position. However, several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “specific doctor,” “higher checkup fee,” and “damage to their body organs.” There are also spelling and form errors, including “therfore” and “alopathic,” which reduce precision. Some expressions are repeated, particularly “health” and “treatments,” and a few claims rely on imprecise wording such as “backward areas.” Aim for more natural, neutral phrasing and check spelling carefully; this would make your vocabulary more controlled and appropriate for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if people have a headache” and a concession in “however, in the long term…”. Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are noticeable. For example, “Using alternative medicines are considered normal” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “people have a headache, instead of visiting doctor” needs clearer sentence construction and an article before “doctor.” In “they do not have to pay higher checkup fee to doctors.For instance,” the missing space after the full stop also affects punctuation. Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and proofread for consistent capitalization, such as the capitalized “Relying” after “In conclusion.”

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