Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-27

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)

It has been observed that people are keen on joining their family businesses rather than working for a job. I presume that the benefits of owning a family business surpass its drawbacks to a great extent. I will discuss my perspective in further paragraphs with relevant examples.

Examining the brighter side of businesses owned by families is trust. Families do not need to worry that employees will leave the job because of high salaries or better opportunities. They have a sense of loyalty between them. If there is any disagreement with them, they can solve it without being egoistic. The family only thinks about growing the business without demanding any personal profits. For instance, the richest man in India, Mr Mukesh Ambani, is the owner of the business that was established by his father, and now his sons also joined the family business, and they all work together to grow the business. After his sons joined the business, they took it to the next level, and everyone in the world recognized them.

Furthermore, the children who are born into families that own their businesses do not worry much about their careers. From childhood, they learn they have to join their own firm when they grow up. So, they have less pressure compared to other students regarding choosing their career. For example, students with no business background have to figure out what they need to study to get a high-paying job in society, but, on the other hand, classmates from business families they already know that they have to study the subjects regarding to their companies' requirements.

On the contrary, family businesses have some demerits. There must be some conflicts while working together. Because of this, their personal relationship can also get worse. These disagreements trun into the lifetime rivalry. That's why the elders of the family sometimes decide to divide the business equally between the partners.

To conclude, there are both the merits and demerits of family businesses. However, I believe that it is more advantageous because of the trust and loyalty between the families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, presenting a clear position that the advantages surpass the drawbacks. The ideas are generally relevant and supported with examples, such as the mention of Mr Mukesh Ambani and the reduced career pressure for children in business-owning families. However, some arguments lack deep analytical extension, and the discussion of disadvantages remains somewhat brief compared to the advantages. Despite these minor limitations, the main position is sustained and the task is adequately fulfilled, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors. A slightly stronger development of the counterarguments would elevate this score further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The text demonstrates a clear logical organisation with an introduction, well-defined body paragraphs focusing on separate themes (trust, career security, and demerits), and a concluding paragraph. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'On the contrary', and 'To conclude' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the argument. Paragraphing is handled sufficiently, although referencing and transitions within paragraphs could sometimes be smoother. For instance, the transition into the example about Mukesh Ambani feels slightly abrupt. Overall, the structural progression is clear, making the essay easy to follow and justifying a solid Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'egoistic', 'lifetime rivalry', and 'demerits'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, such as 'working for a job' instead of 'working for an employer', and a spelling error with 'trun' instead of 'turn'. Furthermore, some phrasing is repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'family business'. While communication is never impeded, the presence of lexical inaccuracies and slightly unnatural phrasing keeps the score at a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well. There is good control over basic grammar, but several errors in complex structures persist, such as 'study the subjects regarding to their companies' requirements' and the missing preposition in 'there must be some conflicts'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but occasional awkward phrasing detracts from fluency. Since the errors do not impede communication and a variety of sentence patterns are attempted, the writing firmly sits at a Band 6.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.