Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-07

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)

In the contemporary world, a large proportion of people prefer to become an entrepreneur or simply their own boss to achieve better life balance and higher income. However, there are significant drawbacks to this choice, including unsteady earning, lack of job security and hard management.

The most significant advantages of self-employment are freedom and greater revenue. Corporate jobs have strict work hours and rigid micromanagement that do not allow workers to spend quality time with their families. In addition, people can earn much more money running their own businesses instead of working for someone else because self-employment provides complete control over income. For example, freelancers and digital creators set their own hours to spend more time with family and friends while often earning more money than traditional employees.

On the other hand, self-employment involves significant disadvantages, particularly regarding financial stability and stress. Unlike corporate jobs that provide a fixed monthly salary and benefits like paid sick leave or pensions, independent workers face irregular earnings. If business is slow, their income drops immediately. Additionally, being one’s own boss means managing every aspect of the enterprise alone, including marketing, finances, and customer service. This heavy responsibility often results in longer working hours and higher levels of stress compared to a regular job.

In conclusion, people are increasingly opting for self-employment because it offers personal freedom, flexibility, and the potential for higher earnings. However, these benefits are balanced by drawbacks major drawbacks, such as unstable income and lack of job security, and heavy work pressure. Therefore, individuals should carefully consider these pros and cons before leaving traditional employment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for choosing self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The position is clear from the introduction and maintained throughout. Ideas are well-developed, particularly the contrast between the flexibility of self-employment and the rigidity of corporate roles. The examples provided, such as freelancers and digital creators, are relevant and support the arguments effectively. The response covers all requirements of the task well, providing a balanced view that directly answers the 'why' and 'what' questions posed in the prompt. The structure is logical and the content is consistently relevant to the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the transition between the advantages and disadvantages is handled smoothly using cohesive devices like 'On the other hand'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different aspects of the prompt. While the flow is generally natural, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes standard; however, the overall structure is coherent and easy to follow. The introduction and conclusion effectively frame the discussion, ensuring the reader understands the writer's stance from the beginning to the end.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is sufficient and appropriate for the task. The student uses topic-specific terminology such as 'contemporary world', 'micromanagement', 'financial stability', and 'traditional employment'. There is an attempt to use less common items, and the word choice is generally precise. While there are no major errors in collocation, the range could be slightly more sophisticated to reach the highest band. For instance, 'hard management' is a bit simplistic and could be replaced with more academic phrasing. Overall, the lexical range is flexible enough to convey complex ideas clearly and accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. The grammar is generally accurate, with most sentences being error-free. There is effective use of complex structures, such as conditional clauses ('If business is slow, their income drops immediately') and relative clauses. Punctuation is used correctly to manage the flow of information. While there are no significant errors that impede communication, the variety of structures could be further expanded to include more advanced grammatical forms to achieve a higher score. The control over tense and subject-verb agreement is consistent throughout the text.

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