Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-18
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 recent years , many individuals are shifting their focus towards establishing their own business instead of working for other organizations . The reasons behind this trend and the possiblee challenges will be dealt in this essay
One of the major reasons for this trend is the financial insecurites in the rapidly advancing technological worlld . The employs might suffer from job loss and become unemployed in certain senarios. Firstly, with improvements in technology, , many call center jobs are being done by automated systems .For example, many call center jobs are being automated .Similarly, self-service Kiosks in many stores are replacing the need for humans. Secondly, some companies are forced to downturn the number of employees in case of economic crisis. Another considerable reason for this scenario is people nowadays are not prefering to work under the leadership of others. Furthermore, people are choosing to be self-employed by establishing their own business.
Conversely, there are some challenges for a person to be self-employes. The most significant drawback for this trend is the financial constraints. The individual should invest a huge amount of money in order to start a business or company. It would be a hassle for people to put hefty amounts without incurring debts. Anothe major challenge becomes when the
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the two main parts of the prompt, exploring reasons for self-employment and its disadvantages. However, the candidate fails to meet the minimum length requirement, as the essay contains only 212 words compared to the required 250 words. This under-length impacts the overall development of ideas, particularly in the conclusion and final body paragraph, which cuts off mid-sentence ("Anothe major challenge becomes when the"). While the reasons given, such as automation and financial insecurity, are relevant, they are somewhat repetitive and lack full extension. Because the task is partially incomplete and under-length, it aligns best with Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates some organizational structure with a clear introduction and distinct paragraph breaks for body points. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as "Firstly," "Secondly," and "Conversely." However, referencing and progression become problematic towards the end, and the abrupt cutoff at the conclusion of the response severely disrupts overall coherence. Paragraphing is attempted, but the final paragraph is incomplete. These mechanical breakdowns and inadequate concluding cohesion place the response securely at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses a minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, with attempts at less common items such as "financial insecurities," "automated systems," and "economic crisis." However, there are multiple noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including "possiblee," "insecurites," "worlld," "employs" instead of employees, "senarios," "downturn" used as a verb meaning downsize, and "prefering." These lexical inaccuracies and spelling mistakes cause some distraction for the reader, justifying a Band 5.0 score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as "In recent years, many individuals are shifting their focus towards establishing their own business instead of working for other organizations." However, tense errors are present (e.g., "many individuals are shifting" in a context requiring present perfect, and "people nowadays are not prefering"). There are also awkward passive constructions like "will be dealt in this essay." Frequent grammatical errors and incomplete sentences pull the grammar score down to a Band 5.0.
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