Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

In most parts of the world, there is a norm of members of a family to join and support their own family business. It has its fair share of pros and cons. In this essay, I will discuss why I think there are more risks or disadvantages to it than the benefits.

Firstly, the biggest positive factor in family business is the comfort of familiarity. The people or relatives are already aware of each other's personalities and nature, which can help navigate the professional relationships better. Moreover, the loyalty with the company is also a motivating factor for them to work with honesty and integrity. For instance, compare this with the employees who have no personal connection or direct attachment with the institution, or its leadership. They can easily prioritize their own personal growth, even if it comes at a cost of neglecting the company's profit.

On the other hand, I believe that the cons certainly outweigh the pros. While everyone initially joins in positive spirits, the workplace politics can end up affecting the family relations badly. More often than not, the shared goal of flourishing the business together is overpowered by jealousy or personal enmity. I write this remembering the unfortunate situation of one of our close acquaintainces; a loving, close-knit family of three brothers that started their joint business with sincerity and goodwill. However, in only a few years, greed took over them. The disparity in promotions, professional connections and financial growth bred negative emotions. Ultimately, after a lot of mistrust and deception, the business ended up suffering badly and gone bankrupt. But more important than that, it was the loss of trusted relationships that scarred them for life.

In conclusion, while family businesses have some benefits like the common vision and mission of company's success and family unity. The end result of it is mostly negative, given the lack of trust and professional jealousy that starts to happen in most of the cases.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, and the conclusion restates this view. You address both sides, explaining familiarity and loyalty as advantages and family conflict as a disadvantage. The account of the three brothers gives the main argument a relevant, concrete example. This meets the task well, while showing some of the fuller development expected at the next level. The advantages, however, are explained less fully than the risks, and the claim that family businesses are negative “in most of the cases” is broader than the example supports. Develop the positive side with a specific outcome, and explain more precisely how the example demonstrates the wider risks.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph for advantages, a paragraph for disadvantages, and a conclusion. The contrast signalled by “Firstly” and “On the other hand” helps readers follow the argument, and the example is placed where it supports the main point. However, some connections feel mechanical, and the conclusion begins with “while” but does not complete a balanced contrast cleanly: “while family businesses have some benefits… The end result…” is not a well-integrated sentence. The long example also moves through several events without clearly separating cause from consequence. Use more precise links between claims and evidence, and make the conclusion’s sentence structure and references more direct.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “loyalty,” “integrity,” “mistrust,” “deception,” and “jealousy.” These choices help convey the emotional and business consequences of family conflict. There are also attempts at less common phrasing, such as “navigate the professional relationships,” though some combinations are not natural or precise. For example, “the comfort of familiarity” and “the shared goal of flourishing the business” could be expressed more idiomatically, while “acquaintainces” is misspelled. “Personal enmity” is also rather formal for this context. Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling, while retaining the useful range of vocabulary already present.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including relative clauses (“employees who have no personal connection”) and a concessive opening (“While everyone initially joins…”). Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors and punctuation choices reduce accuracy. The conclusion contains a sentence fragment: “while family businesses have some benefits…,” followed by a separate sentence that does not complete the contrast. In “the business ended up suffering badly and gone bankrupt,” the verb forms are not parallel; use “suffering badly and going bankrupt” or restructure the sentence. The opening phrase “there is a norm of members of a family to join” is also awkwardly constructed. Practise complete sentence patterns, parallel verb forms, and punctuation around introductory clauses.

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