Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12

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 6.0)

In some countries, family members work together in their family business. While this business has a few disadvantages, I believe that the advantages still outweigh them.

One major merit of this type of business is a high level of trust between the employees. Individuals from the same family generally support each other and work towards the same goal. We have seen a couple of successful businesses that are owned and operated by the family. For example, Walmart is the world's highest revenue-making retail company, which is also owned by Sam family.

Another benefit is, members from the same family in the business invest their time to build to work to work together and build it without the restriction of working long hours or on flexible times. Moreover, parents can also give their knowledge and values to operate the organization to their upcoming generations while working with them. For instance, if a family runs a cafe and they involve their younger ones in operating it, they already have someone to take care of that business, and they can get retirement whenever they want.

However, there are some demerits as well to running a family business, as it is not necessary that everyone from the same household has similar ideas about how to operate the company; their visions might be different, which leads to disputes between them and ruins their relationships as well.

Overall, while family businesses can suffer from conflicts and favouritism, their merits surpass the demerits. Strong trust, honesty, ability to share experiences with the upcoming generation can provide a significant benefit of operating this type of business.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both advantages and disadvantages, and a clear position is stated in the introduction that advantages outweigh disadvantages. Main ideas are presented, such as trust, knowledge transfer, and potential conflicts, and supported with some explanation and examples. However, the development of ideas tends to be slightly superficial. For instance, the example of Walmart being owned by the 'Sam family' is factually slightly inaccurate (it is the Walton family) and the explanation of how long hours work in the third paragraph is a bit convoluted and unclear. Nonetheless, the task is adequately addressed throughout. This performance aligns well with Band 6.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The text presents a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: an introduction with a clear thesis, two body paragraphs dedicated to advantages, one body paragraph addressing disadvantages, and a concise concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'One major merit', 'Another benefit is', 'Moreover', and 'However' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is managed sufficiently and logically. While referencing is generally clear, some minor issues with sentence-level cohesion occasionally appear, such as in the third paragraph where the flow is slightly disrupted by awkward phrasing. Overall, this demonstrates clear coherence and places the response solidly at Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'demerits', 'disputes', 'favouritism', and 'surpass'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though a few lexical choices and collocations are unnatural or imprecise, such as 'highest revenue-making retail company' or 'get retirement'. Furthermore, there is a minor error with a proper noun ('Sam family' instead of Walton family). Spelling and word choice errors are present but do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily follow the arguments. This lexical control matches the requirements of a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilising subordinate clauses effectively in sentences such as 'While this business has a few disadvantages, I believe that the advantages still outweigh them.' There are some grammatical errors and awkward structures present, notably in sentences like 'members from the same family in the business invest their time to build to work to work together' and 'they can get retirement whenever they want.' Despite these errors, meaning is rarely obscured, and punctuation is generally handled adequately. The grammatical control reflects a standard typical of Band 6.0.

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