Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-05
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)
In recent times, being self-employed is chosen by many people instead of working in a firm. This shift happened because people sometimes feel that their work life balance is disturbed and they need to give time to their family too. However there are any many risks associated with being self employed like failing anything new we start and become completely unemployed.
Self-employment is chosen more nowadays because of increasing pressure in many companies leading to disturbance in work life balance. Today A.I. has became very powerful replacing many while collar jobs and few blue collar jobs. Therefore every company has reduced hiring new employees leading to increased pressure on remaining employees. Their work shift extends beyond 8 hours due to which they could spend less time with their family and friends. Health is also deteriorated in this process. Employees do not like this change in their work life balance and they decide to be self-employed instead. For example, Amazon last year had laid of around 10,000 people which caused too much pressure on remaining employees. Many employees quit due to this reason.
There is a thin line between self-employment and unemployment causing risk of unemployment the major disadvantage of being self-employed. Many people quit their jobs in order to start their own business but majority of these startups fail. As given in last year's forbes magazine, almost 90% of new startups do not achieve success. The main reason of these failures is the massive amount of new startups entering the market which in return increases competition. In these cases the person feels that working for a company was better because of job security it provides.
Therefore choosing to be self-employed is a double edged sword because even if they provide good work-life balance in most cases, the risk of unemployment is higher due to increased percentage of failure of new businesses.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for choosing self-employment and the disadvantages involved. The ideas are relevant, such as the impact of AI and corporate layoffs on work-life balance, and the high failure rate of startups. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the link between AI and the specific decision to become self-employed could be more clearly articulated. The position is clear throughout, but the essay would benefit from more nuanced exploration of the 'why' beyond just corporate pressure. Overall, it meets the requirements of the task well enough for a solid band 6.0, as all parts are addressed with relevant, though occasionally under-developed, ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Therefore', 'However', and 'For example', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, although the opening sentence is slightly awkward. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the reasons from the disadvantages. To reach a higher band, the student should focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that the flow between sentences is more natural and less repetitive.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their meaning clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'double edged sword' and 'deteriorated', which are used correctly. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'any many' (a typo) and 'while collar' instead of 'white-collar'. The phrase 'failing anything new we start' is also slightly unnatural. The range is sufficient to discuss the topic, but more precise academic vocabulary would elevate the score. Spelling errors like 'laid of' (laid off) also detract slightly from the overall impression.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'A.I. has became' (should be 'has become') and 'due to which they could spend less time' (should be 'as a result of which'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are missing commas after introductory phrases. While the errors are noticeable, they do not impede communication. To improve, the student should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of complex sentence structures, ensuring that subordinate clauses are correctly linked to the main clause.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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