Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18
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 4.0)
Undoubtedly, in this modern era where living in nuclear families is common but still in many nations people prefer to work in their family business rather working under someone. This trend has lot of benefits as compared to drawbacks according to me. This essay will expalin how it is more advantageous as compared to
The first merit is motivation; if someone is working for themselves, they are always motivated to do what is assigned to them by the owner of the family. For example,
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 3.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0
The response is severely incomplete, containing only 84 words against the required 250 words. Because the student stopped writing mid-sentence ('For example,') and failed to complete the body paragraphs or provide a conclusion, the task is only addressed in the most minimal fashion. The writer attempts to introduce a position ('This trend has lot of benefits as compared to drawbacks according to me'), but the ideas remain entirely undeveloped due to the truncation of the essay. According to the descriptors, falling drastically short of the word count limit heavily impacts Task Achievement, placing this response at Band 3.0 for failing to present a fully formulated argument.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
Despite the extreme brevity of the text, the writer demonstrates an awareness of essay structure by attempting an introduction and initiating a first body paragraph. The introductory sentence attempts to link ideas using cohesive phrases such as 'Undoubtedly, in this modern era where...' and 'This essay will explain...'. However, because the text cuts off abruptly after two sentences, logical progression cannot be fully evaluated. Paragraphing is initiated properly, but the sudden termination prevents any sustained development. Overall, the organizational features present are clear, but the lack of completion restricts the coherence score to Band 4.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.5
The vocabulary used in the fragment is basic and appropriate for everyday communication. Phrases such as 'modern era', 'nuclear families', 'family business', and 'motivation' are used correctly. However, there are minor lexical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'rather working under someone' (missing 'than') and 'This trend has lot of benefits' (missing the article 'a'). The range of vocabulary is severely limited by the length of the writing sample, preventing the demonstration of less common lexical items. Therefore, the lexical resource is best classified at Band 4.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The student attempts a complex sentence in the opening statement ('Undoubtedly, in this modern era where...'), which shows some ambition. However, grammatical accuracy is compromised by missing prepositions and articles, as seen in 'rather working under someone' and 'has lot of benefits'. The second sentence of the introduction is also a run-on sentence separated by a comma splice ('This essay will expalin how it is more advantageous as compared to'). Because the response is so short, the sample size of grammatical structures is very limited, resulting in frequent errors relative to the output produced. This warrants a Band 4.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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