Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-17

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)

Nowadays many people prefer self employment over work in organisations and big companies, i think the main reason behind it is flexibility. The self employed person can freely choose his working hours, he is not answerable infront of anyone and most importantly he is not worried about the job security. All the factors i enlisted can be the possible reasons someone preffer self employment over working under someone. But there can be few disadvantages of working solely on your own, one is lack of communication skills, it is proved theory that people who works in offices are better at communicating, there enironment and exposure gave them the confidence to talk and present effectively. Another disadvantage can be lack of social life and little or no connections. People working in companies meet people from all background all day which adds into their working experience and increase there connectivity all around. Everything has it's own advantages and disadvantages, but i think what kind of work you preffer totally depends on your comfort zone. For example, students who are working at day would preffer work that they can do at their own set timings rather then following strict scheduel. You can not compare between choices, the option that is good for one can be bad for another, so i think it is a matter of choice. You should always choose option that best fits you. Both self emplyment and working under someone has it's perks and challenges it's upto you how can learn best from you given scenario. Afterall work requires commitment and hard work.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both why people choose self-employment and the potential disadvantages. The main reasons, such as flexibility and autonomy, are identified, and disadvantages like communication barriers and limited networking are presented. However, the development of ideas tends to be slightly superficial and repetitive. For instance, the point about job security contradicts general business reality, as self-employment often entails higher financial risk, suggesting a minor lack of depth in reasoning. The student takes a clear position towards the end that it is a matter of personal choice. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks proper paragraphing, as it is presented almost entirely as a single block of text, which significantly hinders logical progression and visual organisation. While basic cohesive devices and transition signals are used, such as 'For example' and 'Another disadvantage', referencing and referencing chains are occasionally weak. The overall arrangement is somewhat coherent in terms of moving from advantages to disadvantages and then to a conclusion, but the lack of paragraph breaks makes the structure difficult to follow, aligning closely with Band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their core ideas about employment and flexibility. However, the range is limited, and there are noticeable lexical errors and miscollocations, such as 'work in organisations', 'preffer', 'infront', and 'enironment'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success ('connectivity', 'proven theory'). Spelling and word-choice errors occur frequently, though they rarely impede overall comprehension. This performance fits the Band 5.0 profile well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but punctuation control is notably weak, characterised by run-on sentences and comma splices, such as 'The self employed person can freely choose his working hours, he is not answerable...'. Grammatical errors are frequent, including missing apostrophes ('its own advantages', 'it's upto you'), subject-verb agreement issues ('people who works'), and misspelled pronouns ('you given scenario' instead of 'your given scenario'). While communication is not entirely blocked, the high density of structural inaccuracies limits the score to Band 5.0.

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