Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-07-31

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)

At present, some people want to be independent rather than to work for a company. This essay will discuss the reasons for this and several drawbacks associated with this issue.

Many people, specially young professionals tend to be self-employed. One of the main reasons is that they want freedom of their work. In addition, in some workplaces, particularly in corporate sector, many professionals face stress, burnout and lack of flexibility. These situations eventually make them frustrated, less productive and weaken their relationships. As a consequence, many employees are thinking for the alternatives and one alternative is being self-employed because it has several benefits such as freedom of making decisions and working in their own pace.

However, there are many disadvantages. Many people have lower knowledge regarding the investments, which can be a risk for their financial security. Moreover, due to lack of experiences they can make wrong decisions, which can damage their life instantly. In addition, being independent has some cons such as people often become tired because they have to deal not only with many things but also with aspects of different people. Furthermore, they have to go through different challenges daily.

In conclusion, although self-employment has many advantages, it has some problems. People want to be self-employed because of certain issues, which they have to face in their offices. On the other hand, self-employed people also suffer from different types of pressures. Therefore, it is important to remain satisfied and keep patience everywhere.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The essay addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing reasons for self-employment and its disadvantages. However, the response is slightly under the 250-word minimum, which limits the depth of development. While the ideas are relevant, they are somewhat general. For instance, the mention of 'wrong decisions' or 'different challenges' lacks specific examples or detailed explanation to fully support the arguments. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your points with concrete examples or more detailed reasoning to ensure the response is fully developed and meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'However', and 'Furthermore' to link ideas. However, the flow is sometimes a bit mechanical, and the connection between sentences could be smoother. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall structure would benefit from more sophisticated transitions to better connect the arguments within the paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your ideas clearly. You use some relevant terms like 'self-employed', 'professionals', 'burnout', and 'financial security'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are some slightly unnatural collocations, such as 'thinking for the alternatives' (should be 'thinking about') and 'keep patience' (should be 'have patience'). To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and idiomatic expressions related to the topic of employment.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'specially young professionals' (should be 'especially'), 'freedom of their work' (should be 'freedom in their work'), and 'lack of experiences' (should be 'lack of experience'). Additionally, there are minor issues with article usage and preposition choice. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and refining your use of articles.

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