Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-15

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 this contemporary era, poeple are facing a lot of difficulties in searching for a job and other opportunities.

Some people feel comfortable and convenient by working as an employ. Another group of individuals choose to be self-employed. It is because of some reasons discussed futher in this essay.

Firstly, some people are getting exhausted during working for overtime after earning relatively lower. These people fed up on getting considerable burden from their managers and choose to established their own business. Furthermore, some people are not acheiving any improvment in their skills while working for a company or an organisation. As a result, these companies fail to provide a comfortable environment to their employees which make them to leave the company and set up a personal business . They will get comparatively better income from their businesses and it will also helps them to work independently.

However, working as a self-employed has also some drawbacks. These individuals would not get enough working experience and can not able to work on their own skills through their business. Working in a company can provide them a competitive environment that would encorage them to enhance their problem solving, decision making, self oraganising and many other self managemenet skills. Sometimes, a personal enterprises would not be profitable for a long term. It is because a specific business requires a significant investment for it's continuity.

In conclusion, although many people in the society are shifting towards a self-empoyed job, I beleive that self-employment bring complexities in the workplace which makes business difficult to run smoothly. For instance, in sole proprietorship business when a person suffers any health issue or can not able to come for work, it will be difficult to run a business.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by exploring both the reasons why people choose self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The introduction clearly acknowledges the prompt, and the body paragraphs discuss reasons such as burnout, low pay, and the desire for independence, while counterbalancing them with disadvantages such as a lack of experience-building and financial risk. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed and would benefit from more specific examples. For instance, the mention of sole proprietorship in the conclusion is relevant but introduced very late. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task Achievement, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall structure, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised adequately to separate the main themes of advantages and disadvantages. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', 'However', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes mechanical or slightly faulty, as seen in phrases like 'working as a self-employed' and 'a personal enterprises would not be profitable for a long term'. These minor slips in cohesion prevent the essay from reaching a higher band, placing it comfortably at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'contemporary era', 'sole proprietorship', and 'significant investment'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('poeple', 'employ' instead of employee, 'futher', 'acheiving', 'improvment', 'encorage', 'managemenet', 'empoyed', 'beleive') and instances of inaccurate word formation or collocation, such as 'getting exhausted during working for overtime' and 'fed up on getting'. These lexical errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not seriously impede overall communication. This performance aligns with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar with structures such as 'It is because of some reasons discussed futher in this essay' and conditional-like thoughts in the conclusion. Nevertheless, frequent grammatical errors are present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('this make them to leave', 'a personal enterprises would not', 'can not able to come'), incorrect prepositions, and structural awkwardness ('working as a self-employed has also some drawbacks'). While these errors rarely completely obscure the meaning, their frequency prevents the writer from achieving a higher score. Consequently, a band score of 5.5 is appropriate.

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