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 today's world People avoid to work for someone else and prefer self-employement. This is because of the awareness from social media. It also has some disadvantages like no fixed monthly pay and extra hard work.

Since everybody is on social media nowadays and it constantly remind users that how business owners are making huge money nowadays. This influence people towards self employement and they are motovated to start something of their own. Mr Beast is a great example that how he is a billionare just by running his own youtube channel.

It also has some undeniable disadvantages like there is no guaranteed salary at the end of the month there will be a month where the owners can earn in lakhs while at some time they might be going in loss. Similarly more hardwork is required for self sponsored people and their success demands sleepless nights and constant creativity. For instance we can take an example of makeup artists who are doing their business and are independent but they are juggling between so many things such as doing makeup, making content for their online platforms, replying to the customer queries and shooting their clients.

To wrap it up, We cannot ignore the disadvantages comes with self employement but if people do smart work instead of hardwork can make it easy such as using AI tools or an AI assistant.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: social media is offered as a reason for choosing self-employment, while uncertain income and heavy workloads are identified as disadvantages. The examples of Mr Beast and makeup artists make the points more concrete. However, the explanation of why people choose this path is narrow and relies mainly on social-media influence; other relevant motivations, such as independence or flexible working, could broaden the response. Some ideas also need clearer development—for example, the contrast between earning well and making a loss is stated but not explained. The conclusion introduces AI tools without showing how they resolve the disadvantages discussed. The response is 20 words below the required minimum, so it needs further relevant development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph explaining a possible motivation, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “Since,” “Similarly,” and “For instance” help signal relationships between ideas. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. In the disadvantages paragraph, the shift from unstable income to workload would benefit from a clearer separation or transition, and the long makeup-artist example lists several duties without a concise concluding link to the main point. The final sentence also moves abruptly from disadvantages to AI solutions. More precise referencing and smoother links between each example and its claim would make the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “guaranteed salary,” “constant creativity,” “independent,” and “customer queries,” which helps communicate the topic. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “juggling between so many things.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “self-employement,” “motovated,” and “billionare.” Some phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “awareness from social media,” “self sponsored people,” and “going in loss.” Repetition of “nowadays” and “hard work” also limits variety. Aim to learn accurate forms and natural collocations, and choose vocabulary that expresses the intended meaning precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “makeup artists who are doing their business” and a sentence beginning “Since everybody is on social media.” Meaning is generally understandable, but grammatical errors occur in several sentence patterns. For example, “it constantly remind users” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “that how business owners are making” uses an incorrect clause structure. The opening “People avoid to work” also needs a different verb pattern, and “the disadvantages comes” has an agreement error. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, particularly in “People” and “We” after commas or sentence boundaries. Review verb patterns, agreement, and sentence boundaries to improve accuracy.

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