Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-26

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)

To use medicines without consulting a doctor has become a major concern i 21st century. This trend has been considered a negative development as using wrong medicine may lead to death .

To begin with , there are plenty of factors to prove that not consulting doctors may prove negative development for people . Firstly , people who do not visit their doctors during their illness may strugglefor a longer period of time to cure this disease at home and sometimes die of it . For instance , in Afghanistan , most of the people do not allow their women to go to doctors and cure their disease at home with herbs .

People in order to save money , prefer not to visit doctors rather love to aearch medicine on internet and buy them without consulting a doctor . Risik tablets are the glaring examples . people for every type of disease , love to use thses tablets .

Not consulting doctots may lead to a greater number of deaths . According to WHO , during CoViD 19 most of the people did not go to doctors and treated themselves at homes and died .

sometimes , wrong medicines trigger minor illness. with having zero knowledge medicines can have negative impacts . For instance, general masses love to use panadol even for fever .

Treatments , including face surgery or injectables , without perscriptions of doctors can damage physical asymetry.

In summation , consulting doctors is imperative , people alone cannot treat themslevs at home .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you consider self-treatment instead of consulting a doctor a negative development, and you give several relevant reasons, including delayed care, incorrect medication, and risks from cosmetic procedures. The examples about Afghanistan and the use of tablets help illustrate your concerns. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim about people treating themselves during COVID-19 and dying needs clearer support, and the discussion of Panadol does not explain when its use becomes harmful. The response addresses the question, but the ideas are not developed equally. To strengthen it, explain the risks more precisely and connect each example directly to why avoiding professional advice is harmful.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body presents reasons and examples, and the final sentence restates your position. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin with,” “Firstly,” and “For instance” help readers follow individual points. However, the body reads more like a list than a connected argument, and several ideas are introduced without clear transitions or development. The paragraphs are also not clearly separated, making the shift from access to doctors to internet searches, COVID-19, and cosmetic procedures abrupt. Some linking phrases are repetitive or mechanically used. Group related points into focused paragraphs and use references or transitions that show how each example supports the central argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “alternative medicines,” “consulting doctors,” “prescriptions,” and “physical asymmetry,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “imperative” and “glaring examples.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, including “love to aearch medicine,” “struggle…to cure this disease,” and “trigger minor illness.” Spelling errors such as “Risik,” “thses,” and “doctots” also make the writing less fluent to read. Aim for precise, natural combinations—for example, “search for medication online” and “seek medical advice”—and check spelling carefully before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including a conditional structure in “using wrong medicine may lead to death” and a relative clause in “people who do not visit their doctors.” This shows some variety, but control is inconsistent. Errors in sentence construction and punctuation appear in examples such as “To use medicines without consulting a doctor has become a major concern,” where the opening phrase is awkwardly formed, and “people…prefer not to visit doctors rather love to…” where the relationship between clauses is unclear. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries, as in “wrong medicines trigger minor illness.” Practise building accurate complex sentences and review punctuation, articles, and singular/plural agreement.

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