Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-22

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 businesses are being handled by its own family in many countries. Having this kind of action for the business has a advantages also disadvantages. In my opinion, I think that many families at my country do this kind of thing where they mostly handle there businessm, because of continues amount of profit that may without paying employees.

There are many reason why they do this, one thing that comes to my mind is that owners of a business wanted employees that is only at his or her family so no need to interview and trust strangers to their business they have. In that way they can lessen the cost of paying salaries to employees rather than paying employees they can only give their own family a reasonable amount of allowance that they can get on helping out the business. Another thing that made families work together to a business is they want to build generational wealth to their families in the future so their grandchildrend or children will not suffer on not having a money to buy basic needs but they can buy luxary things.

Now having them work together as family there is also a negative impact to it, for example like if someone makes a wrong decision or wrong things they did to the business they will have a big problem internally where it will function normally the business anymore because of drama. However, if they hire a employee that is not related to them and made a wrong thing on their job they can easily fire them rather than family members quarrel.

In conclusion, I think it has differences on having family members work at a family business mostly that know is it is so good because of making the family bond stronger with its members so they will have a great type of synergy on working because they know themselves on how they work and what is the type of personalities they have.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the question by presenting benefits—lower staffing costs, trust within the family, and building wealth for future generations—and a drawback involving conflict when a relative makes a poor decision. Your conclusion also indicates that you see family businesses as beneficial, particularly for family bonds and teamwork. However, the position is not consistently clear: the opening says there are advantages and disadvantages, while the conclusion says they are “so good” without directly weighing which side is stronger. Some points, especially the claim about saving on salaries and the effect of family conflict, need clearer explanation or a specific example. State your judgement directly and develop the comparison between benefits and drawbacks more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, a paragraph on a disadvantage, and a conclusion. This gives the reader an overall route through your ideas, and transitions such as “Another thing” and “However” help signal development and contrast. Some links are mechanical or unclear, though. For example, “Now having them work together as family” does not smoothly introduce the drawback, and the final sentence combines several ideas without a clear progression. References such as “this kind of action” and “they” can also leave the reader unsure what is being referred to. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each explanation directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “employees,” “salaries,” “generational wealth,” “allowance,” and “synergy.” These choices show an attempt to discuss both practical and family-related aspects of the issue. However, the range is limited in places, and several inaccurate or awkward expressions make ideas less clear, such as “continues amount of profit,” “a reasonable amount of allowance,” and “a great type of synergy.” There are also spelling errors, including “businessm,” “grandchildrend,” and “luxary.” Aim for more precise business vocabulary and check spelling and collocations. For instance, explain whether family labour reduces operating costs rather than suggesting that profit continues without paying employees.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “if someone makes a wrong decision” and a contrast between relatives and non-family employees. However, control is inconsistent, and errors often make the reader work to understand the intended meaning. Examples include “Having this kind of action … has a advantages,” “owners … wanted employees that is,” and “it will function normally the business anymore.” Subject–verb agreement, articles, sentence structure, and verb forms need attention. Some sentences also run together or contain incomplete grammatical patterns. Practise building accurate sentences around one main idea, then add subordinate clauses only when their structure is secure.

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