Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-25

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 5.0)

Currently, a large number of individuals with health issues are trying alternative treatments instead of visiting doctors. It affects negatively to everyone, because people now taking treatments or medicines by following social media, and it might detrimental to their health.

On the one hand, social media has been affected a lot of individuals, social media influencers usually advertise their medicines on it. People may believe on them, and buy medicines without proper knowledge of the specific medicine. Individuals generally trust those influencers, as the influcencers illustrate certain evidence that their medicines are genuine. As a result, people take those treatments, and face several problems with their health. For example, In Bangladesh, some unknown companies sell medicines online, and they do not have government license for those medicines, but still several people purchase those medicines without having enough information of the medicine.

On the other hand, taking alternative treatments without visiting a professional doctor can be harmful to everyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

Your position is clear: you consider the growing use of alternative treatments a negative development, and you give a relevant reason involving medicines promoted on social media. The Bangladesh example also supports your concern about unlicensed products. However, the response addresses the task only partially: it does not explain the broader risks of replacing a doctor’s care, and the second body paragraph ends after one general sentence. The ideas are therefore limited and under-developed, with little explanation of consequences or a contrasting consideration. The response is also 92 words below the required minimum, which leaves too little space to develop your argument. Extend each main point with explanation and a specific example, and finish with a conclusion that restates your judgement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure, with an introduction followed by two body paragraphs, and phrases such as “On the one hand” and “As a result” show an attempt to guide the reader. The first body paragraph follows a generally understandable sequence from online promotion to people buying medicines and experiencing health problems. However, the second paragraph is only one sentence, so the essay has no developed progression toward a conclusion. The contrast signalled by “On the other hand” is also unclear because the point continues to support the same negative position. Develop both paragraphs, use transitions that reflect the actual relationship between ideas, and add a concluding paragraph. This would make the organisation more complete and reduce the reliance on basic linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “alternative treatments,” “influencers,” “government license,” and “proper knowledge,” so the main subject is clear. There are also attempts to express cause and consequence through phrases such as “As a result” and “face several problems.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive: “affected negatively to everyone” and “believe on them” do not sound natural, while “medicine” is repeated several times in close succession. The misspelling “influcencers” also reduces accuracy. Aim for more precise expressions and vary repeated terms—for example, refer to “unregulated remedies” or “health risks” where appropriate. Proofreading spelling and checking common word partnerships will make your vocabulary more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause with “because” and a result structure beginning “As a result.” These help communicate the main argument, but the range remains limited and errors occur in several sentence patterns. For example, “people now taking treatments” is missing an auxiliary verb, and “it might detrimental” needs a verb after “might.” In “It affects negatively to everyone,” the sentence pattern and preposition are not controlled. There are also problems with articles and sentence boundaries, such as the capital letter in “For example, In Bangladesh.” Practise forming complete clauses and checking modal verbs, auxiliaries, and punctuation. More accurate control of these basic structures would make your meaning clearer.

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