Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In recent times, most people have decided to be self employed rather than working for a company or an organization.

These can be as a result of the stress or issues that arises from working under a company.In the society today most people are self employed not, because of a lack of available jobs but, other challenges that can be associated with it such as, delay of payday,related problems at work, and sometimes the nature of the environment.These are things that contribute to such decision. A major reason an individual can choose to be self employed is the profitable income that comes everyday after a daily work,which in a case of being employed there is always an agreed date for an income apparently within that period there could be emergencies that require immediate solutions with money and,if not handled immediately could get worst which is what alot of people avoid.

In as much as there are merits and gains in being self employed there are also obstacles and difficulties attached with it, that if not well taken care of can lead to destruction.Being self employed means right decisions needs to be put through and achieved, critical thinking and strategies are needed to push the business forward and higher,a little fall can lead to losses which might not be recovered and can result to setbacks in the business.There should be precautions and rules to follow,to avoid such dilemma,e.g discipline and dedication which an entrepreneur must have as a quality.

In conclusion, people prefer being self employed to working under an organization but, sometimes don't consider the pros and cons associated with it, which shouldn't be ignored but taken into consideration.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that people seek self-employment to avoid workplace stress, delayed pay and other job-related problems, and you identify business losses and the need for sound decisions as disadvantages. However, the reasons are not developed evenly. The discussion of immediate income and emergencies is difficult to follow, and the disadvantages focus mainly on business failure without explaining other consequences, such as irregular earnings or lack of employee benefits. The conclusion restates the topic but does not clearly summarise your main answer. To strengthen the response, explain each point with a clear cause-and-effect link and a specific example, while keeping your position explicit throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of your answer. Within paragraphs, however, several ideas are crowded into long sentences, and links between them are sometimes unclear. For example, the sentence beginning “A major reason an individual can choose” moves from daily income to emergencies without clearly showing how the two points connect. Connectors such as “In as much as” and “In conclusion” provide some signposting, but transitions can feel mechanical. Use shorter sentences to separate distinct points, and make references such as “These” and “it” clearly identify the ideas they refer to.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “self employed,” “profitable income,” “critical thinking,” “strategies,” “losses” and “setbacks.” These choices show an attempt to discuss both the appeal and risks of running a business. However, some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, which can make the intended meaning less clear: “profitable income that comes everyday,” “related problems at work,” and “lead to destruction” are examples. There is also repetition of broad terms such as “issues,” “challenges,” “obstacles” and “difficulties.” Aim for more precise collocations and vocabulary that distinguishes financial uncertainty, workplace dissatisfaction and business risk. Check spelling and word forms, including “a lot” as two words and “self-employed” with a hyphen.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “that” and “which.” However, complex sentences are often difficult to control, and errors in agreement, sentence boundaries and punctuation sometimes make the meaning hard to follow. For instance, “the stress or issues that arises” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “Being self employed means right decisions needs to be put through” contains problems with agreement and sentence construction. Several sentences run together, particularly the long sentence about income and emergencies. Practise building one main idea per sentence, then check subject–verb agreement, articles and punctuation. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas clearer.

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