Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-22

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 modern society, people are well aware of the market trends, the highs and lows in the market. It is often argued that more people now choose to become self-employed compared with two decades ago. They struggled with the job satisfaction, inadequate salary increases and excessive workload. However, there are several compelling reasons for this and disadvantages. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will discuss on this.

One of the major reasons, why people choose to be self-employed rather than work for a private firm or organization. This is due to several factors, such as high workload, politics, favoritism, low salary increase and job insecurity. Although, there are many employees who struggle to achieve career progression while working for these private organization's. For example, a software developer who has worked for a organization from past five years, set to be fired without any prior notice when the market is fall down and company faces financial difficulties. Therefore, self-employment seems to be attractive.

On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks in the starting phase such as high risk investment, unstable income and no guarantee employment benefits. A person who startup their own business can not provide surety in the beginning phase. In addition to this, they and their teams have to dedicated long hours to meet deadlines, and for finding clients and managing the business. To exemplify this, during pandemic in 2020, several businesses lost business and shut down their offices as they do not have clients and also they not have funds to provide salaries to their employee. Therefore, having own business is somewhat is realistic approach.

In conclusion, people increasingly choosing self-employment because of factors such as job insecurity, excessive workloads, limited salary increases and restricted career progression. However, own businesses work on several risk factors, which includes financial uncertainty, greater responsibility and a lack of employee benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for choosing self-employment and the associated disadvantages. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported with examples, such as the software developer scenario and the impact of the pandemic. However, the development is somewhat uneven; the explanation of why people choose self-employment is clearer than the discussion of disadvantages, which feels slightly rushed. The position is clear throughout, and the essay maintains a consistent focus on the topic. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully explored with more nuanced analysis rather than listing factors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand', 'In addition to this', and 'Therefore', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are instances where sentence structure impacts flow, such as the sentence fragment 'One of the major reasons, why people choose to be self-employed rather than work for a private firm or organization.' Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that sentences are complete and grammatically connected would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific terminology like 'market trends', 'career progression', and 'financial uncertainty'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'market is fall down' (should be 'market falls' or 'market downturn') and 'no guarantee employment benefits' (should be 'no guaranteed employment benefits'). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and sophisticated vocabulary would be needed for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'In the modern society' (unnecessary article), 'a organization' (should be 'an'), 'they and their teams have to dedicated' (should be 'have to dedicate'), and 'they not have funds' (should be 'they do not have'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of apostrophes in 'organization's'. A greater focus on subject-verb agreement and article usage is required to improve accuracy.

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