Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-15

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)

Some people believe that health problems can be trated by alternative medicines and treatments instead of consulting their regular doctor. I believe that it is a negative development and people should not put such a strong believes in alternative methods mostly due to lack-of data confirming their effectiveness and delay in diagnosis proccess.

One major disadvantage is that majority of the alternative medicines are not scientific proven. Before traditional medicine is widely implemented, it is widely tested by various scientists, including doctors, so its effectivenes can be proven, while alernative medicines are usually not. Therefore, pacients may pay a lot of money on trying different methods that are not working. For instance, patients with chronic migranes can buy expensive supplements, although there are no data confirming their actual effectivenes. As a result, they can lose both valuable time and money and still do not see any effects.

Another concern is that due to usage of alternative methods, diagnosis of the illness can be delayed. Instead of going to the hospital to conduct a medical disgnosis, people try to search for alternative methods and their medical situation can usualy only get worse. For instance, obese people buy supplements and e-books from Instagram celebrities instead of going to the doctor and check their health issues like possibility of insulin resistance. Consequently, the health problem can ony got worse without implementation of proper medicines and treatments.

Although alternative medicines and treatments can have some possitive impact on people health, they cannot be seen by society by main source of treatment. That is why, I personally think this phenomen has a negative impact and should not be promoted.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you regard the trend as negative, and you maintain this view in the conclusion. You address the question with two relevant reasons—uncertain effectiveness and delayed diagnosis—and support them with examples involving migraine supplements and obesity-related health checks. This gives the response a clear, relevant argument. To strengthen it further, develop the examples with more precise explanation: for instance, show how relying on supplements could postpone a specific diagnosis or treatment, rather than mainly stating that the condition may worsen. The brief concession that alternative treatments can have a positive impact is appropriate, but it would be more convincing if you clarified which treatments might help and why they should not replace medical care.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate concerns, and a conclusion that restates your position. The progression from lack of evidence to delayed diagnosis is logical, and linking phrases such as “Therefore,” “For instance,” and “Consequently” help show relationships between claims and examples. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some features of stronger progression. However, the links can feel formulaic, and some references are not fully clear—for example, “their medical situation” could refer more precisely to the person’s condition or the underlying illness. Use a wider range of transitions and make the connection between each example and its main point explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “alternative medicines,” “effectiveness,” “diagnosis,” “chronic,” and “insulin resistance,” so the reader can follow the main argument. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “medical situation” and “proper medicines and treatments.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the phrasing awkward: “trated,” “alernative,” “pacients,” and “effectivenes” recur, while “put such a strong believes” and “scientific proven” are not natural collocations. Some wording is also imprecise, such as “do not see any effects.” Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common word partnerships, such as “place strong faith in” and “scientifically proven.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “although,” “while,” and “instead of,” and most of the argument remains understandable. However, errors occur across sentence patterns and often make the writing less controlled. For example, “I believe that it is a negative development and people should not put…” needs a clearer parallel structure, while “they can lose both valuable time and money and still do not see” shifts verb form. In “they cannot be seen by society by main source,” the passive construction is not formed correctly. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and verb forms, as in “majority of the alternative medicines” and “the health problem can ony got worse.” Practise accurate complex sentences and check each clause’s subject and verb.

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

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