Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In recent years, running family business in a group has become increasingly common. Although working togather sometime can cause some disadvantages, I believe that supporting each other for smooth business have greater advantages.

One advantage of handling families' occupations is that each member work hard and keep commercial operation up-to-date. This is because they always try to become successful in long-term plane without any lost . For example,many business man wokeup early in the morning to open their shops and prepare for customers before they arrives. Therefore, all families are well stabilized financialy and supportive.

However, I believe that the disadvantages are more significant. One major drawback is that lack of contribution. This is because some members are unable to put effort for running  occupations. For instance,family people often show careless and less interested to check regular stocks , margin and profits . Another disadvantages is that take unnecessary holidays without other persons permision. As a result, family business sometime cause conflict and arguments among each others.

In conclusion, although running a business has some disadvantages, I believe that the advantages outweigh them because family can invest with trust and try to run coperation smoothly and effeciently.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student addresses the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, presenting a clear position in the introduction and conclusion. However, the response fails to meet the minimum length requirement, containing only 197 words instead of the required 250 words. This under-length severely limits the development of ideas. While the arguments regarding commitment, financial stability, and potential internal conflicts are relevant, they remain superficial and lack sufficient supporting examples. Consequently, the task is addressed only partially, aligning with Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, which provides a basic structural framework. Cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'This is because', 'For example', and 'However' are used to connect ideas, though some transitions are mechanical or repetitive. There is a clear overall progression from the introduction to body paragraphs discussing advantages and disadvantages, and finally the conclusion. However, paragraphing and referencing are occasionally imprecise—for instance, the transition between discussing advantages and introducing the counter-argument is abrupt. Overall, the organization shows some logical sequencing, earning a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, featuring basic terms related to business and family dynamics such as 'commercial operation', 'financialy', and 'profits'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary like 'stabilized' and 'cooperation' (intended as cooperation), but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable errors in spelling and word choice ('togather', 'plane', 'lost', 'wokeup', 'business man', 'arrive', 'permision'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical range to a basic level, which fits the Band 5.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using subordinating clauses ('Although working togather sometime can cause some disadvantages...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors present throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('each member work hard', 'family people often show careless'), missing articles ('running family business'), incorrect prepositions, and morphological errors ('financialy', 'disadvantages' used as singular 'Another disadvantages'). These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, which is characteristic of Band 5.0.

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