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 recent years, a significant number of people prefer to be self-employed, instead of working for a company or organisation. This is largely because individuals want to work at their own pace without the need of any senior, but being self-employed comes with drawback. People have to make decisions on their own rather than consulting with someone which sometimes lead to problem or loss in the business.

Admittedly, people choose to be self-employed so that they can work according to their schedule. This helps them maintain their personal and professional life, which helps in maintaining strong relationship with the family.For instance, a businessman can make a time for spending quality time with family on weekends and on weekdays businessman can give that time to meeting clients. As a result, this helps them maintain a balance between work and personal life. Another significant reason is individuals do not have any pressure from anyone in completing any kind of deadlines, which helps them work more independently and with more stability.

Being a self employed comes with drawbacks. One of the major disadvantage is you have to take decisions on your own, which can sometimes lead to loss for the business. This is because you have to make decisions without consulting anyone you have the authority to take important decisions and it can sometimes cause inconvenience and any loss have to bear by own self.

In conclusion, although people choose to be self-employed becuase of the independence and flexibilty among personal and professional life, it also comes with a drawback which is taking decisions by your self which is sometimes a drawback.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions and give a relevant reason for self-employment: flexibility over one’s schedule and greater independence. The example of arranging client meetings around family time helps illustrate the first point. You also identify a disadvantage—making decisions without advice and bearing the consequences—but this side is less fully developed. The explanation repeats the idea of decision-making and does not show clearly how a particular decision could cause a business loss. The point about having no pressure from others is also broad and would benefit from a concrete explanation. To strengthen the response, develop each main idea with a clear cause-and-effect explanation and a specific example, while avoiding repetition in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Ideas generally follow a sensible order, and linking expressions such as “For instance,” “As a result,” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. In the disadvantage paragraph, “This is because” leads into a sentence that repeats the point rather than explaining it, while “you have the authority” does not clearly connect to the risk of loss. The conclusion also restates the same disadvantage without adding a concise synthesis. Use clearer referencing and make each sentence advance the explanation, rather than relying on repeated claims or formulaic links.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employed,” “deadlines,” “independently,” and “maintain a balance,” so the main ideas are understandable. There is some repetition of “decision,” “drawback,” and “maintain,” and several word choices or collocations are awkward, such as “make a time for spending quality time” and “any senior.” Spelling errors in “becuase” and “flexibilty” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from following the response, but they limit precision and naturalness. Build a wider set of topic-specific expressions and check collocations and spelling; for example, describe arranging one’s schedule and consulting an experienced adviser rather than repeating the same terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “which,” “because,” and “although,” and the overall meaning is usually clear. However, some sentence structures and agreement patterns are inaccurate. For example, “which sometimes lead to problem” has a subject–verb and plural error, while “One of the major disadvantage is” also needs plural agreement. The long sentence beginning “This is because you have to make decisions” joins several ideas without clear punctuation, making the relationship between them difficult to follow. There are also article and preposition problems in phrases such as “with the family.” Aim for more controlled complex sentences, check singular/plural agreement, and divide sentences when they contain several separate claims.

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