Writing Task 2: Advantages & Disadvantages Essay: Question 1
Syllabus W.task2
In many countries, patients can now consult a doctor by video call or telephone instead of visiting a clinic or hospital in person, and some healthcare providers direct minor or follow-up cases to this kind of remote consultation by default.
Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
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Worked solution
Examiner notes: why this is a band 9 response
Task Response
The introduction paraphrases the prompt and states a clear, sustained position (“its advantages… outweigh the disadvantages considerably”) that is maintained through to the conclusion’s explicit verdict. Both sides are developed with a specific, concrete example (the rural patient renewing a prescription, and the missed subtle physical signs) giving genuinely comparable depth to the advantages and disadvantages before the final judgement is reached.
Coherence & Cohesion
Topic sentences clearly signal which side of the argument is under discussion (“The clearest advantage is…”, “Set against this is…”), and “Nevertheless” cleanly pivots from the disadvantage back to the overall verdict. Reference chains such as “this convenience” and “these risks” tie ideas back to earlier points without relying on a mechanical string of linking words.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and topic-appropriate throughout: “practical barriers to care”, “digital divide”, “screen consultation”. Near-synonyms avoid repetition (e.g. “remote consultations”, “telemedicine”, “a screen consultation” all referring to the same idea), and collocations are used accurately (“widen access”, “reduces pressure”).
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
The response shows confident control of complex structures: a semicolon linking two closely related clauses in the first body paragraph, a non-defining relative clause (“a doctor relying solely on a patient’s own description…”), and varied sentence openings across paragraphs. There are no errors of tense, agreement or word form anywhere in the response.
Common pitfalls specific to this task
See commonMistakes above: the most damaging is developing the access/convenience advantage in full while reducing the disadvantages to a token mention. A band 9 outweigh essay must give both sides genuinely comparable depth before reaching its verdict.