Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation.

Why might this be the case?

What could be the disadvantages of being self-employed?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.0)

It had seen that recently many people wants to be self employed instead of working for organization or company. This trend is increasing sharply in recent years.

This case is very interesting in recent times graduates after studies start their own startups instead of choosing firms. It is mainly due to high living costs,increase in inflation and oversaturation of job market. It becomes very difficult to get a good job because there were hundred times more people applying than vacancies and also the paying scope is limited and the progress toward big posts is just like a tortoise walk. So people choose to start their own business. For instance One of my friend passed through the same situation he was graduated from the MIT and get a engineering degree. He tried for a year to get a good job but failed many times and then he start his own startup and now earning in six figures.

However , self employed and startups posses some drawbacks which cant be ignored like you have to pay all expenses alone and there were many startups who were failed every year and one of biggest drawback is that they have to compete with giant companies who had years of experience in that field. Moreover, you have to manage all the things at your own and if you hire a worker you have to pay them it is very stressful and sometimes make you depressed.

From my prospective both have pros and cons it depends a lot upon circumstances that which profession you choose. If you can bear all costs and have strong emotional control and can work hard so self startup is best option.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it explains why people may choose self-employment, citing limited vacancies, inflation and restricted career progression, and identifies drawbacks such as financial responsibility, business failure and competition with established firms. The personal example of a graduate who starts a business supports the first point. However, some ideas are more fully explained than others: the reasons for choosing self-employment are developed with several details, while the disadvantages are mostly listed, with little explanation of how they affect a person. The conclusion gives a conditional view, but the position could be clearer and more directly tied to the discussion. Develop each disadvantage with a brief explanation or example to make the response more balanced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. The progression from causes to drawbacks is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “For instance” and “Moreover” help connect supporting points. However, some transitions are mechanical or awkward, including “This case is very interesting” and “However ,”, and the opening does not clearly preview the two parts of the discussion. Within the disadvantages paragraph, several points are joined in a long sequence, so their relationships are not always clear. Use clearer topic sentences and divide or punctuate connected ideas more carefully; also ensure pronouns such as “they” have an unmistakable reference.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “oversaturation of job market,” “vacancies,” “six figures,” “drawbacks” and “compete with giant companies.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and there are attempts to use more specific business-related language. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “paying scope,” “progress toward big posts,” “a tortoise walk” and “self startup.” Spelling and word formation also need attention in forms such as “posses” and “self employed.” These issues do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Prefer established expressions such as “career progression” and “salary prospects,” and check spelling and collocations when revising.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause in “It is mainly due to…” and a conditional structure in the conclusion. The main message is generally understandable, but some errors in agreement, tense, articles and sentence construction remain. For example, “many people wants” should use a plural verb, while “he was graduated” and “he start his own startup” have incorrect verb forms. The sentence beginning “For instance One of my friend…” also needs clearer punctuation and grammatical framing. In the final sentence, the conditional clauses are not formed consistently. Review subject–verb agreement, past-tense narration and article use, then proofread long sentences to ensure each clause is complete and correctly connected.

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