Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-11

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)

It is mostly being argued these days that doing own work is better than working for a company as mostly people go for ownership instead of working for an employer. There are several drawbacks and advantages of being self-employed.

The reason to choose self-employment in today's life is because people wants freedom, instead of working for someone else and stay bounded at the same place and got limited time for extra work. They prefer their own work as they do get the flexibility which is unbeatable and cannot be acquire in other's company premises. For instance, One of my friend was working at one of the top software house but he always felt stuck, due to the company's time and regulation. So, he left the job and started doing freelancing in which he can do his assigned work at anytime in the day before deadline.

Contrary to this, the plummet side of being an owner of a work is that own business cannot get a good hike financially in the starting and it requires a lot of backup to own a business. A job is guaranteed for fixed salary but business cannot hold the fixed amount at the beginning and it makes people to remain patient until business grow. The obvious example is that the same friend of mine got nothing in the first 6 months of freelancing and he was so much stressed for obtaining nothing after leaving the job.

Aftermath, few of the people give priority to do own business which is actually a longtime investment which could be enhanced in the future. On the other hand, remaining find the job as their comfort zone and feel more solace in the employment for lives.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for choosing self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The ideas are relevant and supported by a personal example. However, the development is somewhat limited; the explanation of why people choose self-employment focuses primarily on 'freedom' and 'flexibility,' and the disadvantages are limited to financial instability. To reach a higher band, you should expand on these points with more depth or consider additional factors, such as the lack of employee benefits or the burden of administrative tasks. The position is clear, but the overall development lacks the complexity required for a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the reasons, then the drawbacks, and finally a concluding summary. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'Aftermath' to start the conclusion, which is not the correct usage of the word. Referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect ideas more naturally rather than relying on simple transitions.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'doing own work' and 'own business.' There are also some instances of awkward collocation and word choice, such as 'plummet side' (likely intended to be 'downside') and 'cannot be acquire.' While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions that would demonstrate a higher level of control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('people wants,' 'business grow') and incorrect verb forms ('cannot be acquire'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are errors in sentence construction that affect the overall accuracy. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed correctly without missing auxiliary verbs or incorrect tense usage.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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