Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-08

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)

Employment in today's world is the biggest struggle. Many people willingly choose to be self employed rather than work for a company or organization. While this essay discusses why self employment is being prioritized, and the disadvantages of being self employed, i believe the major reason is the job market that makes people uncertain about their job.

Some people tend to earn a living by self employment, these career choices could be running a business or being a social media influencer. Taking these examples in account, these people take decisions, participate solely or with a group of people and are consequently responsible for the outcomes. Furthermore, an individual requires less of a supporting or guiding hand to take the decisions, they may or may not risk the desired outcomes. Additionally, they earn without working under anyone, follow there own routine, work for themselves.

There could be severe consequences if the decisions made turns out to reckless. People working in a company or an organization tend to work together and take decisions accordingly to make profit out of it. For a self employed person if there is on oversight of terms, error in judgement or miscalculation while taking a decision, It could lead to a loss to cope up with. Furthermore, a self employed individual need to be very cautious of what they are doing, have proper knowledge so that the business or person they are dealing with couldn't scam them.

In conclusion, I believe self employment has greater benefit in terms of profit and time management but also requires an immense effort in the initial stages. Though there can be setbacks, but with proper knowledge, street smartness and receptiveness to the market trends, these could be minimized.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for self-employment and the potential disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention job market uncertainty and autonomy as reasons, these points could be expanded with more specific examples or deeper analysis. The disadvantages section touches on financial risk and the need for caution, but the explanation remains a bit superficial. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with clear, logical reasoning and concrete illustrations. Your position is clear throughout, but the overall depth of the argument is more characteristic of a Band 6.0 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Additionally', and 'In conclusion' to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. There are also instances where the flow between sentences could be smoother; for example, the transition between the benefits of self-employment and the risks could be more sophisticated. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, though the internal structure of some paragraphs could be more tightly knit to improve the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'receptiveness', 'miscalculation', and 'oversight'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'take decisions' (better: 'make decisions') and 'loss to cope up with' (better: 'financial loss to manage'). The vocabulary is generally sufficient to convey your meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. To improve, focus on learning collocations and using more sophisticated synonyms to replace common, repetitive words like 'decisions' or 'work'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. For example, 'if the decisions made turns out to reckless' contains subject-verb agreement and adjective usage errors. There are also punctuation issues, such as the unnecessary capitalization of 'It' in the middle of a sentence and the misuse of commas. While your meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately.

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

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