Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-26
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)
Nowadays, an increasing number of professionals are choosing self-employment rather than working for companies or organizations. This is mainly because self-employment provides greater freedom and flexibility, although it also has several disadvantages. What are the causes and disadvantages of being self-employed? It depends upon the conditions around them.
On the one hand, every person wants freedom, whether in making decisions or in earning, and does not want to work for any boss or in an organization. Mostly in organizations, employees face many issues regarding their pay as well as incentives. The toxic and unprofessional culture in some companies pushes back the real and honest worker, and some employees who flatter their superiors gain promotions and incentives. Additionally, this is not a one-day or one-month behavior an employee faces of discouragement but a long-time pushback, which creates a way to choose the self-employed path and work online from home or anywhere they want.
Furthermore, a self-employed person is free to work, and there is no fixed schedule, but every act has a price, and the self-employed person pays the price in the form of sleepless nights, no fixed daily time, and health issues. As online work has no fixed time, maybe clients send you texts late at night to fix any issue that sometimes is minor but mostly disturbs the employee's night routine. Sleepless nights create many health issues in the form of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc.
In conclusion, people may choose self-employment because it offers greater freedom and flexibility, although it can also make it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for choosing self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, focusing on autonomy and workplace culture as drivers, and health/work-life balance as drawbacks. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the discussion on 'toxic culture' is a strong point, but the explanation of the disadvantages could be more nuanced. The introduction includes a rhetorical question that is unnecessary, and the conclusion is brief. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your examples with more specific detail or a broader range of arguments to ensure the response feels fully developed rather than just adequately covered.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand,' 'Furthermore,' and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow within paragraphs is occasionally mechanical. For example, the transition between discussing 'toxic culture' and 'sleepless nights' could be smoother. Additionally, some referencing is slightly repetitive, and the connection between the ideas in the second paragraph could be tightened to improve the overall progression of the argument. Overall, the structure is clear and easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. Phrases like 'toxic and unprofessional culture,' 'work-life balance,' and 'self-employed path' are used effectively. However, there are some instances of slightly unnatural collocation or word choice, such as 'pushes back the real and honest worker' or 'this is not a one-day or one-month behavior.' These do not impede communication, but they prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoiding informal phrasing. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While there are some error-free sentences, there are also recurring grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'this is not a one-day or one-month behavior an employee faces of discouragement' is syntactically awkward. There are also minor issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not cause difficulty for the reader, they are frequent enough to limit the score. To improve, focus on sentence variety and ensuring that complex structures are grammatically sound. Proofreading for subject-verb agreement and preposition usage would also be beneficial.
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.