Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

It is very common around the world that family members work together to run their family-owned business. I personally believe that its drawbacks like suitable for small businesses, misunderstanding among family people and lack of interest outweigh the benefits such as cutting labour cost and more efficiency.

The first and most prominent advantage of family enterprise is cost effectiveness. In a family-run business, people from outside are not hired and only the members of the family work together to obtain business objectives. This result in less outflow of money as there is no one to whom salary being paid. Another main benefit is the efficiency that can only be observed in such kind of business as the whole family is working for their own business having same goal to achieve with complete dedication and hard work. This results in more production and sale which further helps to attain more profits. For example, in the state of Gujarat, India, there are numerous family businesses that are run by family members in their household that have proven to be successful at a great extent.

On the other hand, one primary disadvantage is that it is only appropriate for micro-businesses. In order to expand trade at large or international level, one need to hire people from outside to manage everything accurately because only members of the family cannot perform everything on their own. For example, all multinational businesses are run by trained and professional staff recruited from different parts of the world. In addition to this, there could be a possibility of disagreement among members of the family that can further become a dispute. This could ruin business as well as family relations. Moreover, lack of interest which means sometime few members of the family do not want to involve themselves in business as they have their own desires or goals. This could affect both that particular member’s ability and the generational business.

In conclusion, its drawbacks such as suitable for small business, family disputes and less interest surpass positive side of this type of business which includes less expenditure and more efficiency.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you believe the disadvantages of family businesses outweigh their benefits. You address both sides and give relevant reasons, including lower labour costs and efficiency, alongside limits to expansion, family disagreements, and differing levels of interest. The Gujarat example also helps ground the discussion. This meets the task well, while showing some of the stronger development expected at the next level. However, several points remain broad or only partly explained. For instance, the claim that family businesses are suitable only for micro-businesses is asserted rather than qualified, and the multinational-business example does not fully show why family firms cannot expand. Develop these points with a specific explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, separate paragraphs discuss advantages and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. The progression within each paragraph is generally logical, and signposts such as “On the other hand” and “In addition to this” help readers follow the argument. This is a coherent and well-organised response. Some linking is a little mechanical, however, and repeated phrases such as “Another main benefit” and “Moreover” make the connections more noticeable than necessary. There are also places where the relationship between ideas could be clearer—for example, the move from family disagreements to lack of interest. Use more varied transitions and make the connection between each reason and its consequence explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic-related vocabulary, including “family-run business,” “cost effectiveness,” “expand trade,” “disagreement,” and “generational business.” These choices make the main ideas clear, and you attempt some less common expressions. At times, however, word choice and collocation are inaccurate or awkward, as in “outflow of money,” “at a great extent,” and “lack of interest which means sometime.” “Family people” and “more production and sale” are also imprecise. These issues do not prevent understanding, but they limit the naturalness and precision of the argument. Aim to learn common word partnerships and choose terms that express the intended meaning directly, rather than building phrases through literal translation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “as,” “because,” and “which,” and most of the argument remains easy to understand. Some grammatical errors persist, though, particularly with subject–verb agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “This result in less outflow” needs a correctly inflected verb, while “one need to hire” has an agreement error. The phrase “there is no one to whom salary being paid” is missing grammatical elements, and “the whole family is working … having same goal” needs clearer clause structure and an article. Review agreement and complete verb phrases, then proofread longer sentences to ensure each clause is grammatically complete.

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