Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-12
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 5.0)
In my opinion, self-emplyed is better than work for a company or organization. And nowadays so many people choose self employed because of the freedom of work and how hard you can achieve your goals is the ultimate reward for your own. And the reward do not have to share with other people. In self-employed you can do your work whenever you want to do. Moreover there is no one to force you to do your work. So when people think that, work in a company or organization is boring and people has to maintain the workload and sometimes it create a pressure on personal life which end with anxiety and sadness. The company has a their own target to fillup and the employee who work for them is going to suffer from workload and endup with punishment. Moreover the salary of the employee is kind of fixed, so there is a no chance to get extra payment from the company. So that is the reason most people choose self-employed rather than to work for a company. In my real life experience, when I was in internship at Standard MH Group there was a work time settled from the management which is: 9:30 am to 6:30pm which is about 9 hours but the fact is I can not exit from the workplace before 7:30pm which oviously a over time for 1 hour. And I also did not received any extra payment from the overtime. In self-employed we do not think about the timing issue. So, self-employed is good with every point of view rather than one which is, if you invest the money and that would be on your risk, no one going to pay you when you crashed on that business. so on that statement you can choose the work for a company or organization and they will pay you what ever if it is in risk or reveneue at the end of the months. So I believe self-emoployed is alwasy at the top for choosing for me and so many people over work for a company or organization.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing reasons for choosing self-employment, such as freedom, lack of workplace pressure, and financial rewards, as well as disadvantages, such as financial risk. A personal example from an internship at Standard MH Group is provided to illustrate the points. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, and the student's personal position is overly conversational. The ideas are relevant and cover all parts of the task, earning a solid Band 6.0 in accordance with the descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay lacks proper paragraphing, as it is presented as one long, dense block of text, which significantly hinders readability and logical flow. While basic cohesive devices such as 'moreover', 'so', and 'when' are employed, their usage is often repetitive and mechanical. The progression of ideas is difficult to follow at times due to run-on sentences and a lack of clear structural separation between the advantages and disadvantages. This corresponds to a Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary to communicate basic points about employment, utilizing terms like 'self-employed', 'workload', 'financial risk', and 'internship'. However, there are noticeable word-form errors, such as 'self-emplyed' and 'reveneue', along with awkward phrasings like 'how hard you can achieve your goals' and 'when you crashed on that business'. These errors occasionally cause slight confusion for the reader, aligning the lexical control with Band 5.0 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the grammar is heavily flawed with frequent errors. Issues include missing articles ('work for a company'), incorrect verb forms ('is better than work'), subject-verb agreement errors ('the reward do not have'), and run-on sentences joined improperly by coordinating conjunctions. These numerous errors frequently strain the reader, though communication of the overall argument remains just about intact. This performance sits firmly at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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