Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-09

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)

Nowadays, family members work together in their family business in many nations. I think this has greater advantages than disadvantages because it helps family members to build trust and work more affectively.

To begin with, it is hard to manage a successful business without the collective effort of team, but it is easier when your loved ones support and help in it. It also build more trust in the family when you work together in one firm. Working with family also helps to make hard decisions more easily because a person can take many suggestions from their family members. Moreover, when the family works together they can build love and affection and work for the goodwill of the company. For example, study shows that sixty percent of businesses are successful because their close ones are working in the same firm.

Moreover, working in a family owned company also helps to save money and time because people do not have to spend money and time training employees from scratch. Members also share responsibilities in firm, so the company does not have to hire employees for upper positions and pay heavy salaries to them. Many people also believe that working in the same company helps build trust more in the family.

Overall, there will be some drawbacks to working in a family business but there are more benefits. People can build trust and save money in the collective effort.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you give relevant reasons, including trust, shared decision-making, and reduced training and salary costs. However, the response is 229 words, so it does not meet the 250-word minimum; the eight words copied from the task prompt are not counted. This limits how fully you can develop the discussion. The disadvantages are only acknowledged in the conclusion and are not explained, while the claim that “sixty percent of businesses are successful” is not supported or connected clearly to the argument. To strengthen the response, explain at least one drawback and develop your examples with specific reasoning or credible detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present advantages, and a conclusion restates your position. Paragraphing helps the reader follow the main points, and transitions such as “To begin with” and “Moreover” signal progression. However, the second body paragraph repeats the idea of building trust, which has already been discussed, and the conclusion largely repeats earlier points rather than drawing the discussion together. Some links are also mechanical, with several sentences beginning “It” or “Members.” Group related ideas more tightly, use clearer references where needed, and make the final paragraph briefly weigh the advantages against a specific disadvantage.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “collective effort,” “responsibilities,” and “training employees.” However, the range is limited by repeated wording, especially “trust,” “family,” and “work,” and some choices are inaccurate or unnatural. “Work more affectively” does not express the intended idea; “work more effectively” would be appropriate. Similarly, “close ones” is an awkward substitute for family members, and “goodwill of the company” is not a natural fit for the intended meaning. Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated terms while keeping the language clear.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple sentences and longer structures, including a subordinate clause in “because it helps family members…” and a sentence beginning “when the family works together.” Meaning is generally understandable, but errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction remain noticeable. For example, “It also build more trust” should be “It also builds more trust,” and “effort of team” needs an article: “effort of a team.” In “Members also share responsibilities in firm,” use “in the firm.” There is also an awkward construction in “because a person can take many suggestions,” which would be clearer as “consider suggestions.” Check subject–verb agreement and articles, and practise varied complex sentences with accurate clause structure.

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