Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
In many countries, family member often decides to work together in their own business. As everything has its own merits and demerits, whether doing business along with their members as a team or not to take part in anything.
On the one hand, working as a family member and as a team has its own advantages. For example, any person in a family who is going to start small business and does not have enough friends to promote their business, so I think that support really matters alot. As a result their business grows steadily which ultimately benefits them and has many advantages and often possess suggestions to give advice to someone.
On the other hand, someone who does not have any family members or entrepreneurs in their surroundings nor who has not take part in building business may possess difficulty later in life. For instance, a person who took least interest in startup or business opportunities. They often lack knowledge and ideas regarding this thing. Therefore, cannot even try to help those individuals and this can result in negative impact in their future.
In conclusion, everything has positive and negative consequences, if a person is working with their family's businessess. These persons often have good opportunities in future whereas, those one's who never ever had someone or even never thought of doing themselves may face huge challenges later in life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response attempts to address the prompt regarding the advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, but it falls short in several areas. First, the response is under the 231-word minimum, containing only 231 words, which incurs a penalty under Task Achievement. Second, the development of ideas is limited and at times unclear. The introduction fails to take a clear position, and the body paragraphs wander into discussing people who do not have family businesses or entrepreneurs around them rather than strictly focusing on the core comparison of whether family businesses have more advantages than disadvantages. Examples provided, such as someone not having friends to promote a business, are vague and poorly linked to the central theme. Consequently, the ideas are under-developed, aligning best with a Band 5 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The essay is organized into four paragraphs with a basic introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by unclear referencing and confusing transitions. For instance, the phrase 'As a result their business grows steadily...' follows a sentence about not having enough friends, creating a disjointed flow. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are attempted, but they are used mechanically and do not accurately reflect contrasting arguments about family businesses, as the second body paragraph shifts to discussing individuals without entrepreneurial backgrounds. Paragraphing is present, but the overall internal coherence within paragraphs remains faulty, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 5 performance.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive throughout the essay. The student relies heavily on simple terms and phrases like 'family member', 'business', 'advantages', and 'things'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'whether doing business along with their members as a team or not to take part in anything' and 'took least interest in startup'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary result in awkward phrasing ('possess suggestions to give advice', 'negative impact in their future'). While communication is generally maintained, the limited range and frequent lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to a Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are simple or attempt complex forms that become tangled and ungrammatical. There are frequent errors in tense, subject-verb agreement, and sentence completeness. For example, the opening sentence contains an agreement error ('family member often decides'), and the second sentence is a fragmented clause ('whether doing business along with their members as a team or not to take part in anything'). Other errors include missing articles and prepositions ('start small business', 'in family'). Because attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty and errors cause some difficulty for the reader, the grammar aligns with Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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