Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-20

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 4.5)

In my opinion, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicine by own self and they are not take a physician advice for their prescriptions. If they have became any health issues firstly, they go to the clinic and atke a pracetamol and vick and cough syrup and regular using medicine. From my persfective, if you have got any helath issues mostly you have to and visit doctor or phyisician and they are ask what are you struggling from your health than they are advice some blood test and urine test than after they are see if you have any disease aur it's a normal flue either fever. However, doctor see your reports and they are prescribe for your medicine because it very necessary to all the people firstly they go to the hospital than do a checkup. In addition, than you eat medicine without any consultant you don't have to atke any medicines. Probably, you are thinking that you go pharmacy and take wrong medicine so, it is refelct your health and sometime also react the body and than after you go in the last moment when your health became more critical. Eventhough, you have a normal health issues or abnormal particularly go and visit and try to cure your health and trying to stay safe and healthy and strong. Last but not least, you go hospital and visit your doctors than you got your health issues and what types of diseases that you have and you take your doctor advice and as soon as cure your diseases and stay healthy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You express a clear preference for consulting a doctor rather than relying on alternative treatment, and you give relevant reasons: self-medicating may involve taking the wrong medicine, cause a reaction, or delay care until a condition becomes critical. However, the response only partly addresses the question. It focuses mainly on the risks of taking medicine without medical advice and does not clearly discuss alternative medicines or explain whether their growing use is positive or negative in a developed way. The repeated recommendation to visit a hospital adds little support, and there is no specific example to illustrate your reasoning. To strengthen the response, state your position directly and develop two distinct reasons with relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a recognisable overall line of thought: you recommend seeing a doctor, describe possible risks of self-medication, and conclude by advising readers to seek medical care. However, the ideas are not arranged into clear paragraphs, and the response often moves from one point to another without a logical link. Connectors such as “In addition,” “However,” “Eventhough,” and “Last but not least” are used, but some do not accurately show the relationship between the ideas. The repeated advice to visit a doctor also limits progression. Organise the response into an introduction, separate reason paragraphs, and a conclusion; use linking phrases only where they clarify how each point follows from the previous one.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

Your vocabulary is basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on “health issues,” “medicine,” “doctor,” and “visit.” Some phrases communicate the general topic, such as “blood test and urine test” and “react the body,” but several word choices and spellings make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “pracetamol,” “persfective,” “helath,” and “refelct”; “alternative medicine” is also mentioned without a clear distinction from ordinary medicines or self-medication. Build a more precise range for this topic, including terms such as “self-medication,” “side effects,” “diagnosis,” and “qualified medical professional.” Check spelling and choose natural collocations so your ideas are easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts longer sentences and uses some subordinate clauses, for example, “if you have got any health issues” and “when your health became more critical.” However, sentence structures are often faulty, and errors frequently make relationships between ideas unclear. In “they are not take a physician advice,” the verb form and sentence construction are incorrect; “doctor see your reports and they are prescribe” also has problems with agreement and verb forms. Tense and clause patterns are inconsistent, as in “if they have became.” Many sentences run together, with punctuation that does not reliably separate complete ideas. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then add controlled clauses using correct verb forms and punctuation.

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.