Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-29

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)

The practise of family members working together in a family business is common in many countries. This situation has more disadvantages than advantages.

One of the key disavantage of family businesses is that the children are not allowed to follow a passion that does not align with the business.

Children are forced to abandon their dreams in order to continue the family legacy, this results in adults that are frustrated and unhappy. Not being able to do what you love or desire can have negative emotional and psychological impact on people. For example, a family who has a business chain of restaurants will want every member to follow career paths in business management, culinary and finance as these are professions that will aid the growth of the business. In addition, family businesses has resulted in disunity among family members, some can feel cheated, over worked and sometimes sidelined. This leads to envy and jealousy which is bad and may lead members of the family to physically harm each other.

However, family businesses also have some advantages, one of which is giving family members a platform to grow. They do not need to start searching for jobs because they already have a spot in the family business. Also family enterprises gives rise to generational wealth, so many families have been able to build up sustainable businesses that has flourished over the years that even generations unborn will benefit from its profits.

In conclusion, while family businesses has made easy paths for people in terms of employment and created generational wealth, it has also resulted in people being frustrated as they are unable to follow the career path of their choice and also led to family rivalry. This situation has more downsides than benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt directly by discussing whether family businesses have more advantages than disadvantages, and a clear position is maintained throughout the essay. The writer's stance that disadvantages outweigh advantages is evident from the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Ideas are presented and supported with examples, such as the restaurant chain illustration to explain career constraints. However, some arguments lack deep development; for instance, the claim that family businesses lead to severe family rivalry resulting in physical harm is somewhat extreme and under-supported. Despite this, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor range for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as disadvantages in the second paragraph and advantages in the third. Cohesive devices are employed, although some are used mechanically or repetitively, such as the frequent use of commas where semicolons or full stops would be more appropriate (e.g., 'Children are forced to abandon their dreams..., this results in...'). Referencing is mostly clear, though transitional phrases between sentences could be varied to achieve smoother progression. Overall, the organizational structure meets the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows the writer to communicate their ideas effectively. There is an attempt to use less common items and subject-related vocabulary, such as 'generational wealth', 'psychological impact', and 'career paths'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('practise' instead of 'practice', 'disavantage' instead of 'disadvantage', 'over worked') and collocation issues ('family businesses has resulted'). While these errors do not impede communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7. The vocabulary range is sufficient for a Band 6 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the essay. There are instances of effective complex structures, such as concessive clauses ('while family businesses has made easy paths...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'family businesses has resulted', 'family enterprises gives') and run-on sentences or comma splices (e.g., 'Also family enterprises gives rise to generational wealth, so many families have been able...'). Punctuation needs better control. Despite these recurring errors, they rarely impede overall communication, placing this response at Band 5.5 to 6.0, rounded to 6.0 based on positive marking for complex structure attempts.

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.