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 days, an increasing number of people have preffered to be self-employed rather then to work fo a company or organisations. this trend can be due to various factors in a form of adventages and disadventages.

One of the main reasons behind this trend is the desire for more flexibility, freedom and control. Unlike traditional employees, self-employed means having the full contol over the working scheduls and professional decisions without the need to get back to its supervisor / manager or boss in general.

furthermore, this choice leave the open space for th person to persue his own intrestes and developping their own busnisse, some people with creative talents could even open their online busniss which is more easier and flexible rather than working for an established organisation, in results we find self-employed provides much more flexibility and freedom.

on the other hand, dispite all these adventages self-eployed could experience some erregular earnings especially when they are unable to attract enough costomers. Moreover, unlike people with salary, they are responsible for holding the whole responsibilities of thi busnisse such as paying taxes, preparing and delevering the orders for example. another disadvantage is the lack of separations between professional and personal life which can result for working accessive hours especially if its newly launched.

In conclusion, the growing popularity of self-employed can hugely exmplained by the desire of a greater future and beeing provided by flexibility and freedom rather than staying under others. However despit all these adventages, there is an extrem uncertain financial stability and a huge professional responsabilities that remains segnificant.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question: flexibility and control are given as reasons for self-employment, while uncertain earnings, business responsibilities, and blurred work–life boundaries are identified as disadvantages. These points are relevant, and the conclusion restates the overall contrast. However, some ideas are less fully developed than others. For example, you mention pursuing personal interests and starting an online business, but do not explain how these specifically motivate people or provide a concrete example. The disadvantages are also listed more than explored; explaining the effects of irregular income or long hours would make the response more convincing. Develop each main point with a clear explanation or relevant example to strengthen the support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph explaining reasons, a paragraph outlining disadvantages, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “furthermore,” “on the other hand,” and “in conclusion” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some connections between ideas are unclear. The sentence beginning “some people with creative talents” runs several points together, while “in results” does not clearly show the relationship between the example and the claim. Referencing also becomes difficult to follow in phrases such as “its supervisor” and “this choice.” Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise references, and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “flexibility,” “professional decisions,” “irregular earnings,” and “professional and personal life.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond very basic terms. However, spelling errors are frequent and sometimes make the reader pause, as in “preffered,” “adventages,” “costomers,” and “responsabilities.” There are also inaccurate word choices and collocations, such as “full responsibilities” and “a greater future,” which do not express the intended meaning naturally. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common word partnerships, for example, “take responsibility for” and “financial security.” Aim for precise, natural phrasing rather than adding more complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “Unlike traditional employees” and a relative clause in “which can result…”. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and punctuation sometimes make the meaning harder to follow. For example, “self-employed means having” lacks a clear grammatical subject, and “this choice leave” has incorrect subject–verb agreement. The sentence beginning “furthermore, this choice…” also combines several clauses without clear punctuation. Practise building complete sentences with an explicit subject and verb, then check agreement and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these structures would make your ideas easier to understand.

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