Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-05

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)

In this modern society, an increasing number of people with health problems are choosing different types of medicines and treatments instead of visiting their regular doctor. I believe this is a negative development because using unsuitable treatments can be harmful to people's health and delay proper medical care.

On the one hand, I strongly consider that it is negative development because, trying unusual medicines have negative effect rather than positive effect. For example, if someone has hair lose problem and they try different types of products on their hair without knowledge of problems and their which type of scalp they have. They just use random serum, oil or some medicines. As a result, they have chance of more hair fall which may develop another disease. Another reason is, people must be trying homemade treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. For example, people who try to loosing their body fat or gain their body fat, consider different types of activities as part of treatments. This may result in other physical pain.

On the other hand, if people have health or any other kind of body aches, should consult a special doctor for that problem rather than relying on home remedies. If someone has back pain and they do exercise which may increase their pain. However, if they consult a special doctor, he provides them with particular medicine and give therapy for reducing pain. As a result, they may recover soon.

In conclusion, I prefer consult to doctor rather than trying unusual products and treatments at home without knowledge. People must try to consider a specialist for their health problem to recover soon.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you consider replacing a regular doctor with alternative treatments a negative development. You give relevant reasons, including the risk of unsuitable products and the possibility that exercise could worsen back pain, and you conclude by recommending specialist care. This addresses the question, but the discussion is uneven: the hair-loss example is described in detail, while the point about body-fat treatments is less clearly connected to the central issue of avoiding a doctor. The response also briefly shifts to saying people “must be trying homemade treatments,” which conflicts with your overall argument. To strengthen the response, explain more directly how alternative treatment can delay diagnosis or effective care, and develop each example with a clear link to your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main position can be followed. Paragraphing generally separates the examples from the recommendation to consult a doctor. However, progression is weakened by the “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” framing: the second paragraph does not present a contrasting positive view, but continues your argument. Some links are also unclear, particularly the move from hair loss to “another disease” and the claim that people “must be trying homemade treatments.” Repeated use of “For example” and “As a result” makes cohesion somewhat mechanical. Use topic sentences that reflect the actual relationship between ideas, and add clearer explanations between each example and its consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate your main ideas, including “alternative medicines,” “home remedies,” “special doctor,” and “therapy.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations sound unnatural, sometimes making the intended meaning less precise. For instance, “hair lose problem” and “loosing their body fat” are inaccurate forms, while “gain their body fat” and “another disease” are vague in context. “Unusual medicines” also does not clearly distinguish alternative treatments from unsafe or unsuitable ones. Aim for more precise health-related expressions and check word forms and collocations. This would make your examples clearer and help you express the risks without relying on repeated general terms such as “different types” and “problem.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including conditional examples such as “if they consult a special doctor” and a relative clause in “exercise which may increase their pain.” The overall meaning is usually understandable, but some errors in sentence construction and verb forms reduce accuracy. For example, “On the one hand, I strongly consider that it is negative development because, trying unusual medicines have…” has faulty clause structure and agreement; “if people have health or any other kind of body aches, should consult” is missing a subject in the main clause. There are also errors in articles and verb forms, as in “he provides them with particular medicine and give therapy.” Practise building complete clauses and checking subject–verb agreement, articles and parallel verb forms.

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