Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-10

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 the modern day world, many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation. With the technological advancements, their literacy has improved. And with that, people try to build something from scratch, and get succes from that. So they get better income than a company pays for a worker. The disadvantage is that, it comes with many risks. There might be financial incapability to provide funds for the business, or their production can be faild to catch the customer's attention.

Self- emplyment has now being famous among the society. People choose to go for higher- ends by themselves. If that product or service would be succeed, they will get much higher income for them, in their lives. That is actually much lower income than a company employee.They might spend their money on their daily needs, and only get a small amount for the savings. So, they have to save for a long time to get a car or to build a house, or buy anything they need. But, in self emplyment, they get the profits form what they are selling. At the very begining they might suffer but, in some time, they will earn much more, and can have anything they want.

The disadvantages that comes with self- employment are, the risk that associate with that. At the starting stage, they might have to spend a difficult time in arranging funding for their bussiness, shortage of machineries or working supplyies, findng good quality ingredients for their product or servive. They also may have to face faliure in their operations, probelms with substititues. For an example, a man started a small business to sell caramel pudding in a cart near the roadside. He have invest his time, money to get the ingredients and make the pudding. So he put a price on a piece of pudding based on what the production cost was, and it seems to be little expensive. So with that, people would might not buy those things. But there was another man who do the same, but sell that for a normal price, people buy from that, and he get the profits. So those kind o faliures are there when it comes to self-employement.

To conclude, Self-empolyment has now become more popular because it is profitable than being employed. But it has many disadvantages on the starting age. But if that person can mange and face those anyhow, they can be succeed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both questions: it suggests that self-employment can offer higher profits and independence, and identifies financial and business risks. The pudding-cart example gives a relevant illustration of how pricing and competition can lead to failure. However, the reasons for choosing self-employment are not always clearly explained: the opening reference to improved “literacy” and technology is not connected convincingly to the decision to work independently. Several points, such as the contrast with an employee’s income, are repeated rather than developed, while the disadvantages receive more specific treatment. To strengthen the response, explain each main reason directly and develop the risks beyond the single example, such as irregular income or lack of employee benefits.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate discussion of advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. The example about the two pudding sellers also gives the final body paragraph a clear focus. However, progression between ideas is uneven: the second paragraph repeats the claim that self-employment can bring higher income, and the link between improved literacy and starting a business is unclear. Some connectors are awkward or overused, including “So” and “But,” while the opening fragment “And with that” interrupts the flow. The conclusion restates the main points but does not clearly summarise the two answers. Organise each paragraph around one distinct point and use clearer links to show how examples support it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant topic vocabulary, including “self-employed,” “funding,” “production cost,” “profits,” and “customer’s attention,” so the main subject is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “financial incapability,” “higher-ends,” “working supplies,” and “problems with substitutes.” Frequent spelling errors such as “succes,” “bussiness,” and “faliure” also reduce accuracy. Aim to use precise business terms and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe “difficulty securing start-up funding” rather than “financial incapability.” Avoid repeating “income” and “profits” when a more specific term, such as “earnings” or “revenue,” would fit.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay attempts both simple and more extended sentences, including conditional structures such as “if that person can manage…” and a longer explanation of the pudding seller’s costs and pricing. However, attempts at complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some passages difficult to read. Examples include “Self-employment has now being famous,” “their production can be failed,” “He have invest his time,” and “people would might not buy.” There are also problems with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries, as in “the disadvantages that comes” and the fragment “And with that…”. Practise accurate past and present verb forms, subject–verb agreement, and building longer sentences around one clear main clause.

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