Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-09

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)

Nowadays majority of the people are willing to be self-employed or to get more income from bussiness over working under a enterprise. In my Point of view these may give more income than working under a company but it has more limitations than advantages. I have an example to explain.

Firstly, The thought of being self-employed took place by working under pressure and not reaching the targets mentioned by the company. And people think that, having a own income will be a tensionless concept and it is a multibagger in money making. After entering into that field they might be realize it poses many consequences than joblife.

On the other hand, It has major disadvantages should be faced by an particular person after being self-employed. For example, they may get a income but it has no gurantee that it continues throughout the year because self-income may vary according to the seasons but company give us a fixed salary where we can estimate our expenses. Self-employment gives more stress and tension that doing work under a company.

Moreover, Self-employment has so many reasons for being under stress and axiety. has i metion it runs according to the season, In unseason bussiness may run quite low which leads to pending payments followed by pending in workers salary and also materials might be wasted. An example from my own experience, I have resigned my job to be a self-employment and a started foodtruck bussiness, it continued running successsfull and i have earning 5 times more than my salary untill i entered into unseason period. At that time i had a loss more than my earnings and i paid total pending payments thorugh my savings.

In conclusion, It is better to consider self-employed income has a extra income to cover our expenses, But it should not create any new problems in your life. an Advice from my side, people should continue their stressfull job and also make a small bussiness which don't give any kind of stress and loss from that side with any risk. After getting a experience in the market it all on your choice. It is better to get a fixed income for our responsiblities.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

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 position is clear, and the inclusion of a personal example regarding a food truck adds relevance. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The reasons for choosing self-employment are briefly mentioned as 'tensionless' and 'multibagger', but these points lack depth. Similarly, the disadvantages are identified, but the explanation could be more sophisticated. The conclusion introduces a new suggestion (keeping a job while running a small business) that was not fully explored in the body paragraphs. Overall, the task is addressed, but the depth of analysis is inconsistent.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, and there is a logical progression from the reasons for self-employment to the disadvantages. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover', though some are used mechanically or incorrectly (e.g., 'has i metion'). Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences is occasionally disrupted by grammatical errors. Paragraphing is present, but the transition between the personal anecdote and the general argument could be smoother. The overall structure is coherent, but the management of cohesive devices needs more precision to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks range and precision. There are frequent spelling errors (e.g., 'bussiness', 'gurantee', 'axiety', 'successsfull', 'thorugh') and word choice issues (e.g., 'multibagger', 'joblife', 'unseason'). While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of sophisticated vocabulary and the recurring spelling mistakes limit the score. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling and using more academic collocations rather than informal or non-standard terms like 'multibagger' or 'tensionless concept'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes impede readability. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('company give us', 'It has major disadvantages should be faced'), incorrect article usage ('a income', 'a own income'), and punctuation errors. While the writer attempts complex sentences, they are often marred by errors in tense or structure. The frequency of these errors is high enough to cause some difficulty for the reader, though the core meaning remains understandable. Greater attention to basic grammar rules and proofreading is required.

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