Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-07-29

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 6.5)

In the contemporary world, people choose to have their own businesses instead of working for other firms or enterprises. In this essay we are going to discuss the cons of self-employment how the individual suffer from stress of managing the business all alone.

Working for yourself instead of a boss or a company means you are your own boss, you set your rules and pick up projects. Instead of a regular salary from one employer, you get paid by customers or clients for your work. It Include freelancers, contractors, business owners shop keepers etc.

Pitfalls of self-employed is that you suffer the loss if the business is slow down. If you manage alone income is unstable we cannot estimate the profit of the business. If you do not work you do not get paid. There will be no steady paychecks. There is usually no paid sick leave parental leave or disability coverage.

You have blurry boundaries because it is really hard to stop working when your office is in your home. You have to handle all in once as you are the boss, worker, marketer, accountant.

You will suffer from burnout, doing everything yourself lead to high stress and tiredness. You will have less job security. You rely on clients paying.

All in all, Self-employment is stressful due to unpredictable income, you need to manage all your work aspects, and balancing motivation with burnout and personal hurdles. It can lead to unlimited liability, unbearable expenses, heavy work load and lack of specialized skills and harder market competition.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The essay addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for choosing self-employment and the disadvantages. However, the development is somewhat superficial. While you mention reasons like autonomy and project selection, these are not fully expanded with clear examples. The disadvantages are listed as a series of points rather than being developed into cohesive arguments. To reach a higher band, you should focus on expanding each point with a specific example or a more detailed explanation of the consequences. The introduction is also quite brief and lacks a clear thesis statement outlining the structure of the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite limited and sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs is abrupt. There is a lack of linking words to connect ideas within paragraphs, making the flow feel somewhat disjointed. To improve, try using a wider variety of cohesive devices such as 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in contrast' to show the relationship between your ideas more clearly. Paragraphing is present but could be more effectively used to separate distinct themes.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your meaning, such as 'contemporary', 'unstable', and 'unpredictable'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'how the individual suffer' (should be 'suffers') and 'handle all in once' (should be 'handle everything at once'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. You tend to repeat simple structures and basic terms. Incorporating more topic-specific collocations related to business and employment would enhance your lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues like 'It Include freelancers' (should be 'It includes') and 'doing everything yourself lead' (should be 'leads'). There are also punctuation errors and missing articles throughout the text. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would significantly improve your accuracy.

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