Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-04

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)

These days, the number of people with health prombles who are trying try specific medicines and treatments over visiting doctor is increasing.

In my opinion, it can be considered as a positive development. This is because, nowadays, hospital fee is considerebly high. There are so many people who can't afford hospital fee. So they tend to try alternative medicines and treatments for their health.

In most of the countries, hospital fee is high even though people have health insurance. For example,in the United States, people try to not go to the hospital if it is not that serious situation. This is because, the most basic checks cost more than their one day income. Therefore, when they got sick, they try to find alternative medicine instead visiting doctor.

Of course, we can't deny that sometimes it can be harmful for body if you use it in wrong way or overdose it, etc. However, it still works for people who are not be able to afford expensive hospital fee. For example, when you caught a cold, you can go to pharmacy to get a medicine for cold or you can try some treatments such as drinking hot tea and taking a hot shower. It doesn't take that much money compare to visiting hospital but it still can help you to get through it.

However, there are sime situations that we can't solve by our owns. Sometimes you can miss the time and it goes worse if you refuse to having help from hospital . So if it's a big health promlem, don't hesitate to visit doctor.

In my opinion, a suitable way of using alternative medicines and treatments are to prevent from illness or a remedyfor minor ailments like cold or headache.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you regard the trend as positive because alternative care may be more affordable, while acknowledging that serious conditions need a doctor. This addresses both the positive/negative question and the need for reasons and examples. The discussion of healthcare costs, including the US example, is relevant, and the cold-treatment example helps illustrate your point. However, some support is general or not fully explained: the claim that basic checks cost more than a day’s income would benefit from context, and the final recommendation about using alternatives for prevention or minor ailments is not developed into a clear distinction between safe and unsafe treatments. Explain more precisely when alternatives are appropriate and why relying on them can be risky.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: it introduces your view, gives reasons and examples, considers a drawback, and ends with a recommendation. Paragraphing generally helps the reader follow this progression, and linking expressions such as “For example,” “Therefore,” and “However” show how points relate. At times, though, the connections feel mechanical or the reference is unclear. The repeated focus on hospital fees makes the second and third body paragraphs overlap, while “it still works” does not clearly identify what “it” refers to. The final paragraph also introduces a useful qualification quite abruptly. Group the affordability argument together, then develop the safety limitation and conclusion with clearer links between them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “alternative medicines and treatments,” “health insurance,” “overdose,” and “minor ailments.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-choice, and collocation errors reduce precision. Examples include “health prombles,” “hospital fee,” “big health promlem,” and “remedyfor”; “specific medicines” also does not clearly express the intended meaning of alternative treatments. Some phrases are awkward, such as “try to not go to the hospital” and “get through it.” These do not prevent the reader from understanding your position, but more accurate and varied phrasing would make the argument clearer and more natural. Check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships for healthcare and treatment.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, using clauses with “because,” “even though,” and “if,” as well as contrast with “However.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “people who are not be able to afford” has an incorrect verb form, and “if you refuse to having help” uses the wrong form after “refuse.” There are also problems with articles and sentence construction in “visiting doctor” and “a suitable way … are.” Punctuation is occasionally uneven, including extra spaces before commas or full stops. Review verb patterns, subject–verb agreement, and articles, then proofread each sentence to improve accuracy while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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