Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-28

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)

pros- availability, less tax, co-operative, understanding, coverIn the present ing

Cons- follow business modules, rules and regulations, bias, unfair, language barrier

In the present age, competitions and labour costs are rising everywhere. Considering this, most of the people have family own business in which relatives and friends are hired as an employees. I believe that the downsides of this development is far more than its benefits.

Undoubtedly, there are many cons of this trend. The most prominent one is rules and regulations. It has often seen that family members hardly follow any workplace rules, which is obligated by the governments. To exemplify, in the restaurants, most of the family members work without food handaling certificate. The certificate mentions all the health and safety instructions for the food handlers. chefs are not permitted to use any cooking equipments without certificate. Secondly, the employer could not provide proper guidance as they can give to the outsiders. Sometimes, outside workers may feel uncomfortable and bias due to all family members. Hence, individuals should consider some possible consequences of involving family members at the workplace.

Furthermore, language barrier could hinder the growth of business. It is true that all generations may participate in family business. Some members could rougly speak native languages for example English, which arise many problems. They may not speak fluently in fron of customers, which may reduce selling and also impact on reputation. For example, customer service role can be played by highly educated and more knowledgable person to satisfy customer demands. Besides this, the family relations seem weaken. Thus, I believe that a balanced appraoch should be accounted to avoid

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You state a clear position—that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits—and develop several relevant concerns, including failure to follow workplace rules, possible discomfort among non-family employees, and communication problems with customers. The restaurant example gives one point some concrete support. However, the response focuses almost entirely on disadvantages, while the prompt asks whether family businesses have more advantages than disadvantages; the advantages listed in the opening notes are not explained in the essay. Some claims, such as family members being less able to provide guidance, also need clearer reasoning or an example. To strengthen the response, briefly assess the benefits as well, then develop and support your comparison so the conclusion follows from both sides.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The essay has an introduction and two body paragraphs, and signposts such as “Undoubtedly,” “Secondly,” and “Furthermore” show an attempt to organise the discussion. However, progression is difficult to follow because the opening notes (“pros” and “Cons”) are left in the response, and the final sentence stops at “to avoid,” leaving the argument unfinished. Connections between some points are also unclear: the discussion moves from language ability to customer service and then to weakened family relations without explaining how these ideas relate. Use a clear conclusion, group related points together, and make each paragraph develop one central idea. More precise referencing and fewer formulaic transitions would also improve flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “workplace rules,” “health and safety,” “language barrier,” and “reputation,” which helps communicate the main concerns. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “customer service role” and “family relations.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors sometimes make the meaning less clear, for example “handaling,” “rougly,” “knowledgable,” and “bias.” Several phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, including “family own business,” “as an employees,” and “selling.” Aim to learn accurate collocations for business contexts and proofread spelling. Replacing vague wording with precise terms will make your argument easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning “which” and “as,” and the main position is generally understandable. However, errors occur frequently in sentence structure and agreement. For example, “the downsides … is” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “most of the people have family own business” and “all generations may participate” show difficulty forming accurate noun phrases and clauses. The sentence “It has often seen that…” is missing a necessary auxiliary, and the final sentence is incomplete. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, correct articles and agreement, and a complete ending. Shorter, accurately controlled sentences would help before adding more complex structures.

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