Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-23

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 5.5)

In number of countries, family businesses run by the family members working together. I believe this kind of businesses outweight advantages over disadvantages.

The first and foremost benefit is to work in family setup is that people can stay where they are living, they do not have to go far away from the place for their employment purpose weather some has to choose to work abroad to fulfill their financial needs. Aditionally, person who is working with closed ones gives their more efforts to contribute in the sucess of the business since they are part of the family and the business as well. For instance, a family who ownes a resturant then their children can work there and can make a sucessful hotel management carrer out of it eventhough, they do not have to go for any formal internships. Another advantage is family business are already set up so that it does not require any investment due to which younger generation of the family have the previlage to only think about how to expand or upscale the business.

On the other hand, despite of having everything a person needs for business some people fail learn how to run a place individually because they are always surrounded by the family. In one way it is blessing however, it can create resistance for personality development and also leads to conflits between family members in case of opinion difference.

To conclude, family business has several benefits including being with loved ones, no need to higher outer employees and profiting and paying own people. While, it can be a trouble for some individuals who seeks work in other field and it can be a reason to restrict ones growth at point.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of family businesses and takes a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Main ideas are introduced, such as avoiding relocation, increased dedication, and avoiding start-up capital investment, alongside disadvantages like hindered individual growth and potential family conflicts. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and occasionally lacks depth or clear supporting examples. For instance, the example of a restaurant is somewhat brief and generalized. The progression of ideas is present, but arguments could be extended more fully to meet higher band descriptors. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, aligning well with the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing advantages and disadvantages respectively, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to divide distinct themes. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases like 'despite of having' and 'In one way it is blessing however' show awkward linkage and punctuation issues. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and cohesive devices are not always used with complete flexibility. The progression of ideas is logical overall, but mechanical transitions prevent the text from achieving a higher band score. This performance corresponds to a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating key concepts regarding employment, investment, and family dynamics. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'previlage', 'sucess', and 'upscale', but these are accompanied by frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'outweight advantages over' instead of 'outweigh the advantages', 'weather' instead of 'whether', and 'higher' instead of 'hire'. While these errors do not seriously impede overall communication, they occur regularly throughout the response, restricting the lexical score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Examples include missing articles ('In number of countries', 'in family setup'), incorrect prepositions ('in case of opinion difference'), and structural issues in complex sentences, such as 'person who is working with closed ones gives their more efforts'. Punctuation errors also appear, particularly around transitional phrases. These errors occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, though meaning remains generally clear. This falls into the Band 5.0 range due to the frequency of structural and grammatical inaccuracies.

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