Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-13

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)

People are now avoiding to work in company or organisation and prioritize self-employment.There are many factors why do most of people do not want to work in firms.

I firmly believe that there are many cases why do youth nowadays do not want to work in companies.First, company do pay less than the actual requirement.Second, firms will make you do things that you never wanted to do.Third, 9-5 jobs are serious concern to most of working class people because it takes most of the valuable time from the employee.Fourth, one of the major headache for employee is working extra time for the company without being appriciated.Last, the monopoly of other seniors empolyee.Moreover people who are close to boss are the one that manipulates their decision which can directly impact the employee.For Instance, I worked for a company and i was loyal but due to extra work,not being appriciated and monoploy of other employees.Furthermore, not getting paid what i deserved.Therefore, I left the firm.

However, owning a business does not guarantee a complete success.There are some major challeneges which you have to face.First, you are solely responsible for everything (from loss to profit).Second, company will need extra efforts and hard work to grow.Third, hiring wrong employee for work will add another spark to the fire.For example, i started a business of making and selling local burger.First mistake i did for choosing the wrong location and employee.Therefore my business failed.

In conclusion, your work life balance depends in which company or organisation you are working with.Not all companies are best but there are still some which pays off their employee well.Self-employement is also not the solution to the problem.The answer to the question is that new reforms should be introduced for companys and employee.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall view: you explain why people may leave employment, then identify risks of running a business. The reasons—low pay, limited control over duties, long hours and workplace favouritism—are relevant, and the burger-business example gives the disadvantages a personal illustration. However, some points are listed rather than explained, and the first paragraph focuses mainly on dissatisfaction with companies rather than clearly explaining the attractions of self-employment, such as autonomy or control over income. The business risks are also unevenly developed: responsibility and hiring are mentioned, but their consequences could be made clearer. A more direct explanation of how self-employment addresses the problems you identify would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “First,” “Second,” and “However” help readers follow the main stages. This gives the essay an overall coherent arrangement. At times, though, the repeated numbered transitions make the discussion feel like a list, and links between ideas are not always clear. For example, the sentence beginning “Moreover people who are close to boss” is not smoothly connected to the preceding point about senior employees. The personal example also runs into several ideas without clear sentence boundaries. Group related reasons, use transitions that show cause and effect, and make references such as “their decision” more explicit to improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of task-related vocabulary, including “self-employment,” “work-life balance,” “solely responsible,” and “profit,” and these choices generally make your meaning understandable. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “monopoly” and “spark to the fire,” but these are not always natural or precise in context. Several spelling and word-choice errors—such as “appriciated,” “challene ges,” and “monoploy”—reduce accuracy, while phrases like “company do pay less than the actual requirement” are difficult to interpret precisely. Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; choosing straightforward, exact wording is more effective than using an idiom or uncommon term that does not fit.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the response communicates its main points despite grammatical errors. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in questions embedded in statements and in sentence boundaries. For example, “There are many factors why do most of people…” uses question word order where a statement is needed, and “I worked for a company and i was loyal but due to extra work…” becomes an incomplete sentence. There are also errors in agreement and articles, as in “company do pay” and “the one that manipulates.” Punctuation and capitalisation are not consistently controlled. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and review agreement, articles, and punctuation when editing.

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