Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-16

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)

These days, being self-employed has become the most prevalent, which can be observed by the growing number of businesses. The urge to choose to be self-employed often derives from autonomy and flexible time as well as salary opportunities. However, doing business on by own might affect professional and personal life if if fails to meet up the need.

One of the most important reasons is free will. When one is not bound to follow all orders and rules of the executive authority, working independently gives one the impetus to thrive. For example, working under pressurized environment might be unfavorable for some people to bring out their full potential. On the other hand, conducive work environment help employees to flourish. Additionally, workers do not need to wait until the beginning of the month to obtain salaries from the employer.

Another reason is that, continuous and long corporate life creates brain fog, reducing effectiveness of one's full capacity, affecting the economy of corporate office. On the contrary, self-grown businesses have the autonomy to work according to one's preferred time, fostering holistic development.

Although, there are a few disadvantages of this growing trend. Firstly, if the business fails to become lucrative, it can cause substantial damage. Besides there is not any fixed salary so in one month one can earn more and then another month might pass by earning nothing. Therefore, at the time of heath emergency one might fall in trouble.

In conclusion, people are increasingly interested in self-employed jobs because of independency and flexibility one gets from personal businesses, which fosters personal relationships also. By proper strategic planning one might avoid the financial crisis, if the business fails to succeed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, exploring the reasons why people choose self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The position is generally clear throughout the essay. Ideas such as autonomy, flexible time, and the financial risks of an unstable income are introduced and supported with some explanation. However, certain arguments remain somewhat under-developed, and the response features some sweeping generalisations, such as the claim that corporate life always creates 'brain fog'. While all parts of the task are covered, the depth of idea extension aligns best with a Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptor. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, but more detailed examples and fully articulated arguments would elevate the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation with an introduction, distinct body paragraphs focusing on separate ideas, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate reasons from disadvantages. Cohesive devices are employed to connect sentences, such as 'Additionally,' 'On the contrary,' and 'Therefore.' However, some transitional phrases feel slightly mechanical or are used awkwardly, such as 'Although, there are a few disadvantages of this growing trend,' where a fragment is created. Referencing and progression are generally clear, but the flow between certain sentences could be smoother. This places the response comfortably in the Band 6.0 to 6.5 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items such as 'prevalent,' 'autonomy,' 'impetus,' and 'lucrative.' However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text. For instance, the phrase 'doing business on by own' contains a preposition error, 'heath emergency' contains a spelling error, and 'self-employed jobs' is an unnatural phrasing. Additionally, the phrase 'meet up the need' is incorrect. While the writer communicates the main points effectively, the frequency of word-choice and collocation errors prevents the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses (e.g., 'When one is not bound to follow all orders...'). There is an attempt at variety, but grammatical control is inconsistent. Several errors occur, such as 'if if fails to meet up the need' (repetition and awkward phrasing), 'working under pressurized environment' (missing article), and 'conducive work environment help' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation and introductory clause handling also show minor flaws, such as starting a sentence with 'Besides' without proper comma separation. The majority of sentences contain errors, keeping this criterion at a Band 6.0.

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