Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-24

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)

In today's era people are more willing to be self-employed rather than working for a company or organisation. This is happening due to many reasons and social media is promoting such ideas broadly and this trend also have some disadvantages as people suffer through mental concerns and stress. This all will be discussed briefly in upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, the prime reason for people choosing self-employment over work for others is that social media has romanticized this idea a lot among individuals. So many influencers give life lessons to people and always makes points such as "self employment is always superior even with less salary" and their follower start to follow these advices and start believing that working alone is better than working under someone. Moreover, the case is never similar for all the times as many people earn better by doing self jobs such as freelancing selling products and they earn more than someone at job so such type of person also idolize other to follow same path.

However, this trend have many de-merits as well ; firstly, people start their own work at young ages either start selling their products or start doing skill base jobs such as editing, website development etc. In beginning they earn enough to have a good life but by passing of time their is now growth in income but expenses of daily needs start increasing and people start having financial problems in their life eventually they star suffering from mental illness and stress problems and few people also commit suicide. As an example, dominant reason among people of US who committed suicide was financial problems.

In conclusion, the social media is playing a pivotal role in encouraging such trends among people and in the end people's work collapse and they end with nothing ; although, some people get succeeded in these works but most people follow it as rat race.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for the rise in self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, particularly the influence of social media and the financial instability associated with freelancing. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The explanation regarding the 'rat race' and the mention of suicide in the US are quite general and lack specific, well-integrated evidence. While the position is clear, the argument could be strengthened by providing more nuanced examples of the challenges faced by self-employed individuals beyond just financial failure. Overall, the response covers the requirements but remains at a somewhat superficial level of analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'However', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'This all will be discussed briefly in upcoming paragraphs'. Additionally, the use of punctuation is inconsistent, particularly with semicolons and commas, which occasionally disrupts the flow of ideas. While the progression of ideas is generally clear, the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific language like 'freelancing', 'skill base jobs', and 'pivotal role'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and awkward collocations, such as 'self jobs', 'doing skill base jobs', and 'idolize other to follow same path'. The range is somewhat limited, and the repetition of basic structures and vocabulary prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, the student should focus on learning more precise collocations and academic synonyms for common phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of the writing. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('this trend have', 'their is now growth'), article usage, and missing prepositions. Punctuation is also a recurring issue, particularly the misuse of semicolons and the lack of commas in complex sentences. While the student attempts complex structures, these are often where the errors are most frequent. The errors do not typically impede communication, but they are noticeable throughout the text.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.