Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-05

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)

Family members work together in their family business have became an important part of the rising debate in the present world. While people of the arguments are in favor. However, the opponents are completely against the relevance of family business. In my opinion, it has more postive impacts than negative and my belief will be elaborated in the forthcoming paragraph with relevant example.

To embark upon, one prominent aspect of family business is that trust among family members, communicate openly each other easily and cooperate effectively. My case can be further stated with a great degree of proving that family businesses can reduce certain costs. For example, relatives may be willing to work flexible hours or take on several responsibilities when the company is experiencing financial difficulties. Hence, it is evident why many people are supporting negative side.

Moreover, one notable feature of business with family members is that shared experience and personal commitment can contribute significantly to their success. This is due to fact that focusing only on immediate profits, they may work to build a successful business that can be inherited by future generations. For instance validity of family business with all logical evidence. Thus one can deny the fact that one can, confidently consider it less worthwhile.

However, there are disadvantages. Family relationships can sometimes create conflicts at work, particularly when members disagree about important decisions. In addition, some family businesses may give jobs to relatives who are not sufficiently qualified, which can reduce efficiency and prevent talented outsiders from joining the company.

To conclude, even when there are a lot of demerits associated with family business. I reiterate that both have advantages and disadvantages of family business.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task only partially, achieving the targeted band. While the prompt is acknowledged, the position is not always clear, particularly in the conclusion where the writer contradicts their initial stance by stating that "both have advantages and disadvantages" after previously declaring that family businesses have more positive impacts. Ideas presented in the body paragraphs are limited and somewhat under-developed. For instance, the discussion around trust and cost reduction relies on sweeping generalisations rather than fully extended, well-supported arguments. Furthermore, several sentences trail off into vague assertions, such as "For instance validity of family business with all logical evidence," which lack clear substance and fail to develop the central thesis effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation with clear paragraph breaks, but the response lacks a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are frequently inaccurate, overused, or awkwardly applied, which disrupts the flow of ideas. Transitional phrases such as "To embark upon" and "My case can be further stated" are used unnaturally and mechanically. Referencing is also problematic; phrases like "Hence, it is evident why many people are supporting negative side" abruptly introduce a contrasting viewpoint without proper logical linkage to the preceding sentence about cost reduction. Additionally, the progression between ideas within paragraphs feels disjointed, as sentences are often strung together without cohesive harmony, keeping the overall structure at this band level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic ideas about the topic. There is an attempt to use less common items, but this results in noticeable errors and awkward phrasings that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Examples of lexical slips and inaccurate word choice include "postive impacts" (spelling error), "supporting negative side" (missing article), and phrases like "validity of family business with all logical evidence" which lack appropriate collocations. While the writer manages to communicate the general subject matter, the frequent reliance on basic terminology combined with imprecise vocabulary choices prevents the response from achieving a higher rating.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on basic patterns. Attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to frequent grammatical errors. There are notable issues with verb forms, tense consistency, and awkward clause structures, such as in the opening sentence: "Family members work together in their family business have became an important part..." where subject-verb agreement and tense formation are flawed. Other examples include missing prepositions and poor dependent clause integration, such as "due to fact that focusing only on immediate profits." Punctuation errors and fragmented sentence constructions also persist throughout the text, causing noticeable strain and difficulty for the reader.

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