Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
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 | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for choosing self-employment and the disadvantages involved. 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. The explanation of why people choose self-employment relies on generalisations about 'toxic' office culture, and the disadvantages could be explored with more depth beyond health issues. While the position is clear, the essay would benefit from more specific examples or a more nuanced discussion to reach a higher band. Overall, it covers all requirements of the task adequately.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing within sentences could be smoother. For instance, the phrase 'this is not a one-day or one-month behavior' is a bit clunky. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, though it lacks the sophistication required for higher bands. The student uses some relevant terms like 'incentives', 'autonomy' (implied), and 'work-life balance'. However, there is a reliance on simpler phrasing, such as 'pushes back the real and honest worker' or 'every act has a price'. Some word choices are slightly unnatural, such as 'long-time pushback'. To improve, the student should aim for more precise collocations and a wider range of academic vocabulary to express complex ideas more fluently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'an employee faces of discouragement' and 'maybe clients send you texts', which slightly disrupt the flow. Punctuation is generally functional, but some sentences are slightly awkward in their construction. While the errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. The student should focus on refining subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with greater precision and fewer minor errors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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