Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-18

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 undeniable that in this modern world people prefer to work on their own without getting order from other people. In this regards, many masses choose to be self-employed rather than to work for a company or organisation. This essay will outline not only the reasons but also some disadvantages of this notion in forthcoming fragments with logical conclusion.

To commence with, people as professionals and skilled individuals have abilities that they can make money by their forte. First and foremost, there might be opportunities for individuals such as a doctor, an artist, and other skilled persons to access markets that need their skills. Internet assistance, for example, can connect people who need to design logos with a freelance designer in the online market. Secondly, it is cheaper for the public to heir their services than buy a company. A self-employed person may not charge any fees out of their wages. It is far more affordable than people buy a company service. Furthermore, self-employed do their jobs passionately. As a result, there might be an increase in the quality of services.

However, self-employed might face unstable jobs and income. The prime one is that, they might depend on their reputation to get customers. Therefore, a lack of marketing of their their skills or services might decrease their opportunities to get jobs. A graphic designer, for instance, had to get a better ratings from the older customers to gain a better reputation. In addition, being self-employed in the early stage might cause an unstable income. It is important for everyone who decides to become self-employed to prepare for their needs.

To conclude, the development of technology allows people to easily get a job and better income. There are several drawbacks such as lack of marketing, unstable jobs and income yet according to me people choose to be self-employed is better and their benefits ought not be neglected at any cost.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for choosing self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as the role of technology and the challenge of income instability. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The explanation regarding why it is 'cheaper for the public to heir their services than buy a company' is unclear and lacks logical depth. While the position is clear, the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly extended to reach a higher band. The conclusion is a bit repetitive and slightly informal in its phrasing ('according to me').

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Furthermore', and 'However', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'in forthcoming fragments'. Additionally, there are instances where the flow is interrupted by minor grammatical issues, such as the repetitive use of 'their' in the third paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the reasons from the disadvantages, providing a clear structure to the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at topic-specific language like 'freelance designer' and 'unstable income'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'getting order from other people' (instead of 'taking orders'), 'many masses' (which is non-standard), and 'heir their services' (a spelling error for 'hire'). These errors occasionally hinder the precision of the argument. To improve, the student should focus on more natural collocations and avoid non-standard phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('self-employed do their jobs') and article usage ('buy a company service'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor slips throughout. The sentence 'people choose to be self-employed is better' is grammatically incorrect and lacks a proper structure. The student needs to focus on sentence construction and proofreading to reduce these frequent, though not meaning-impeding, errors.

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