Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-07-27

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)

Everyone wants to be economically stable for that purpose everyone needs a way of income. There are some people who prefers self employment and others prefer to join an already working organization everyone had there own choice.

Being self-employed is not that easy to work in an organization there are so many things you have to face or you have to overcome, The most important thing is that you have to take care of all the responsibilities so thats not easy for everyone and not many have that courage to take a risk.

Here i want to share my own experience when i joined an organization for the very first time and after few months covid started so our organization gave us a facility to work from home on the same salary package and i feel very relaxed to just continue my work and to also lookafter my faimly in that pandamic. But on the other side one of my close friend just started a new restaurant few years ago before the pandamic started so at that time when the government started a lockdown so his buisness got affected as indoor sitting got banned in the hotel only take away so the sale got affected of all the buisness related to food and also other buisness like transportation and many other but on the otherside i did not got any affect of the covid, so at that time i realisde that self employement is that much safer option that to join an organization and to work in a calm and relaxing enviorment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, but the development is uneven. While you identify reasons for self-employment (autonomy, risk-taking) and disadvantages (financial instability during crises), the ideas are not fully extended. The personal anecdote about COVID-19 is relevant but occupies the majority of the essay, leaving little room for a broader analysis of the disadvantages of self-employment beyond the specific context of the pandemic. To improve, ensure you provide a more balanced discussion that explores general disadvantages, such as the lack of benefits, irregular income, and the burden of administrative tasks, rather than focusing primarily on a single personal experience.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay lacks clear paragraphing, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. The text is essentially one long block, which hinders the logical flow. While there are some attempts at cohesive devices (e.g., 'But on the other side'), they are often used repetitively or incorrectly. The transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs is abrupt. To improve, you should structure your essay into distinct paragraphs: one for the reasons for self-employment, one for the disadvantages, and a clear conclusion. Using a wider variety of linking words like 'furthermore', 'consequently', or 'in contrast' would help improve the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. There are several spelling errors, such as 'pandamic', 'buisness', 'realisde', and 'enviorment', which occur frequently. You rely on simple phrasing, such as 'not that easy' or 'very relaxed'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise, academic vocabulary and ensure correct spelling. For example, instead of 'not that easy', you could use 'demanding' or 'challenging'. Expanding your range to include topic-specific collocations related to employment and economics would significantly enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. There are issues with subject-verb agreement ('everyone needs', 'some people who prefers'), run-on sentences, and punctuation errors, such as missing full stops or using commas where full stops are needed. The sentence structures are mostly simple or compound, with limited use of complex structures. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, ensuring that each sentence has a clear subject and verb, and proofreading for common errors like tense consistency and pluralization. Increasing the variety of complex sentences will also help demonstrate better grammatical control.

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