Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-27

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)

It is often argued that a increasing number of citizens with health problems are trying alternatives medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. In my opinion, i think it is a negetive development to the people nbecause it delayed the actual treatment to be done by the doctor and it creates financial losses to the people.

First and foremost,there are clear reason when a victim is relying on alternativ e medicine and treatment it delays the actual diagnos to be done. for instance, when the person spend time using not suggested medicine and treatment, it loses the time to know the actual problem to be solved and re doing the actual treatment. Additionally, it also can cause new diseases when we were not sure about the symptoms.

furthermore,i believe that it creates financial loses to the patient when they spend money on the medicine and treatment that are not properly suggested by the doctor and end up not not working to reduce the health problem. for example, when we buy the medicine on our own which may not work later for health problem and also cause us the lose of money. And the medicine and treatment can also harm us if we are not suggested by the actual doctor.

in conclusion,.although there are minor arguments against this, I strongly believe that it is a negative development to the people because it can affect the health rather than solving it and buying the unwanted medicines can cause financial loses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you consider the trend negative, and you give two relevant reasons—delayed diagnosis and financial loss. The examples about self-selecting medicines and treatment support these points, but they remain general and repeat the same idea rather than showing in detail how a specific alternative treatment could delay care or cause harm. The claim that it can create “new diseases” is also not explained. The conclusion restates your view, though it adds little development. The response is 241 words, so it is 9 words below the required minimum; the 9 words copied from the prompt were not counted. To strengthen the response, develop each reason with a clearer explanation or a specific, relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate reasons, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “First and foremost,” “Additionally,” and “Furthermore” help signal the progression. However, some connections are mechanical, and ideas within the paragraphs are not always clearly linked. For example, the point that alternative treatments may cause “new diseases” appears without explanation, while the financial-loss paragraph repeats the idea that self-selected medicine may not work. The conclusion begins with “although there are minor arguments against this,” but no opposing argument has been discussed. Make the progression more precise by explaining each point in sequence and ensuring that references and transitions match the ideas actually presented.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate your main concerns, including “actual diagnosis,” “treatment,” “symptoms,” and “financial losses.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, word-form, and spelling errors make the writing less clear or natural. Examples include “alternatives medicines,” “financial loses,” and “not suggested medicine”; more accurate phrasing would be “alternative medicines,” “financial losses,” and “unrecommended medicines.” Misspellings such as “negetive” and “diagnos” are also noticeable. Repetition of “medicine,” “treatment,” and “health problem” limits variety. Build a small set of accurate expressions for discussing medical care and costs, and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “when the person spend time” and a clause introduced by “because.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and frequent errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence boundaries sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For instance, “a increasing number” needs the correct article, “the person spend” has incorrect subject–verb agreement, and “it loses the time” does not form a clear grammatical relationship. Capitalisation and punctuation also need attention, as in the lowercase “i” and the comma joined to “furthermore.” Practise accurate sentence patterns first, then add subordinate clauses and proofread each sentence for agreement and punctuation.

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