Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-07-24

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 6.0)

There are plenty of reasons for why nowadays many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation. Some of them might be- unjustified salaries, unsuited work environment, inspiration from others, etc.

But, one of the major reason could be the influence of social media. Entrepreneurship is widely marketed on social media. Nowadays, I see a lot of videos that people are posting documenting their entrepreneurial journey and they make it look so easy. Majority of them only show the good aspects of being self employed but a very few people talk about the difficulties they face behind the camera and on the ground level.

Where there are some good aspects of being self employed, it can come with disadvantages as well which might include- Exhaustion, Burn-out, no work-life balance, cash-burn, etc.

There are plenty of examples of how many business have failed and burnt cash through the running stage and some end up selling their companies.

For example, there was a company named xyz, it opened a cafe in the posh area and marketed heavily on social media, airports and billboards. It worked for a few months, people used to come and visit the place but the repetition of customers were not optimum. and slowly number of people visiting cafe become really less that the cafe owner started panicking. after 2 years of loss, the finally closed the cafe since they lost all the hopes. And by this it's very Clear that doing a business is not easy. it requires certain skill sets.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, identifying reasons for self-employment and potential disadvantages. However, the development is somewhat superficial. The reasons provided, such as 'unjustified salaries' and 'social media influence', are mentioned but not fully explored with depth. The example provided about the cafe is anecdotal and lacks the analytical rigor expected for an Academic Task 2 essay. To improve, you should expand on your points with more detailed explanations and ensure that your arguments are balanced and fully supported throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow between ideas is often disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes mechanical, such as the repetitive use of 'etc.' and 'Nowadays'. Paragraphing is present, but the transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion are abrupt. The logical progression of ideas is hindered by the informal structure of the sentences and the lack of sophisticated linking words to connect the arguments effectively. Improving the use of transition signals would significantly enhance the readability of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. You rely on informal or repetitive phrasing, such as 'good aspects', 'really less', and 'doing a business'. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'cash-burn' and 'repetition of customers were not optimum'. To achieve a higher score, focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to business and employment, while avoiding informal abbreviations or conversational fillers.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that occasionally impede the flow. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'number of people... become'), incorrect article usage, and inconsistent capitalization. Punctuation is also problematic, particularly with the misuse of hyphens and sentence fragments. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of complex sentence construction.

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