Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Write about the following topic:

In many countries, family members work together in their family business.

Do you think family businesses have more advantages than disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In many countries, it is very common for family members to work together in a family-owned business. Although this type of business has some disadvantages, I believe that the advantages are greater, particularly because family members have strong trust, commitment and a shared interest in the success of the company.

One major advantage of the family business is the high level of trust. To elaborate more, in family business, members of the family can trust among one another without any doubt and take extra responsibilities. They work harder and give their best to make more money and promote their business. If one person of the family is busy another person can manage their work. Secondly, family business can make more profit and save a lot of money because they don’t recruit number of people for which they save training cost and uniform cost. Each member of the family takes different responsibilities to work smoothly and raise their business. For example, a small restaurant run by parents and their children because each person can take different responsibilities such as finance, cooking and serving to customers.

Another important advantage is that family business can pass from one generation to another. Younger family members can learn valuable skills and knowledge from their parents and grand parents from an early age. This can help preserve the reputation, culture and traditions of the business while also allowing younger generation to implement new ideas and technology. As a result, a successful family business can provide employment and financial security for younger generation.

However, there are some disadvantages of the family business. First and the foremost, family relationships can sometimes create conflicts in the workplace, especially when members of the family disagree about important decisions. In addition, some relatives may receive higher position without the qualifications just because of their family relations. This could reduce the overall efficiency of the business.

In conclusion, although family-owned business has some drawbacks however the advantages are outweighing the disadvantages. Strong trust and commitment, shared interest, new generation can take over the business and create employment opportunities with new ideas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed. For instance, the discussion on trust and intergenerational knowledge transfer is logical and supported by examples, such as the restaurant scenario. However, some points could be further extended to reach a higher band; for example, the mention of 'new ideas and technology' is a strong point but remains slightly underdeveloped. Overall, the response is well-structured and maintains a consistent focus on the topic throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the advantages from the disadvantages. Cohesive devices such as 'One major advantage', 'Secondly', 'Another important advantage', and 'However' are used to guide the reader through the argument. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the concluding sentence is a list of fragments rather than a cohesive summary. Nevertheless, the overall structure is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. There is an attempt to use topic-specific language such as 'financial security', 'intergenerational', and 'efficiency'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'recruit number of people' (should be 'a number of people') and 'raise their business' (should be 'grow' or 'expand'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, it lacks the sophistication and precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over basic grammar, but there are recurring errors that slightly impact the flow. For example, 'members of the family can trust among one another' is grammatically awkward, and 'the advantages are outweighing' should be 'the advantages outweigh'. Additionally, there are minor punctuation and article errors throughout the text. Despite these slips, the meaning is always clear, and the errors do not impede communication.

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