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 members 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 in 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 family support really matters a lot. As a result their business grows steadily which ultimately benefits them and has many advantages. They often give suggestions or advice to someone freely.

On the other hand, someone who does not have any family members or entrepreneurs in their surroundings nor take part in building their business may possess difficulty later in life. For instance, a person who took the least interest in startup or business opportunities. They often lack knowledge and ideas regarding these matters. Therefore, cannot even try to help those individuals who are in dire need of help and this can result in negative impact on their future.

In conclusion, everything has positive and negative consequences, if a person is working with their family's businessess. These people often have good opportunities in the 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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt regarding whether family businesses have more advantages than disadvantages, taking a general position that everything has merits and demerits. However, the development of ideas is limited and somewhat confused. For instance, the discussion wanders into talking about individuals who do not have family members in business rather than fully weighing the comparative advantages and disadvantages of family enterprises themselves. Furthermore, the response falls short of the word count requirement, containing only 240 words against the minimum 250-word threshold. This under-length impacts the overall fullness of task completion, keeping the achievement at a lower band level. To improve, ensure you fully develop arguments for both sides and meet the required length.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction and conclusion, which provides a basic structural framework. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by unclear referencing and awkward transitional phrases, such as starting sentences with 'As everything has its own merits...' or 'Someone who does not have any family members...'. Cohesive devices are sometimes used mechanically or inaccurately, and the connection between sentences within paragraphs lacks fluidity. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion of ideas often falters, making the argument harder to follow smoothly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive throughout the essay. Phrases like 'small business', 'family support', and 'positive and negative consequences' are functional but lack sophistication. There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'working in a family member' instead of 'working with family members', and 'businessess' with a spelling error. The range of vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic ideas, but it fails to demonstrate flexibility or the use of less common lexical items appropriate for higher band scores.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing displays a limited range of grammatical structures, with frequent errors in sentence construction and agreement. For example, the opening sentence has a subject-verb agreement error: 'family members often decides' instead of 'decide'. There are also incomplete or fragmented sentences, such as 'Therefore, cannot even try to help those individuals...', which lack a clear subject. While some simple sentences are controlled, attempts at more complex structures often result in grammatical errors that can cause difficulty for the reader and obscure meaning.

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.