Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-20
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 choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation because many people think doing a job in a company is like doing a labour and they think they cannot grow in the company. They are at the same place and most important thing they think if they work for someone else in a company or organisation, so it is useful for them not a person who is giving its time to company that's why many people choose to be self employed or running their own businesses.
Many people think doing a job is like you are a slave and you are under someone else, basically you are not a boss you are just an employee who is giving its time to company.
Everything in this world has advantages and disadvantages as well, so if a person is self employed, running is own business or company or freelancing whatever he is doing the risk is too much , many people i see around me they just start it without knowing the risk and they dont have backup option and they end up having a great loss and bankcrupt.
In my opinion if a person had enough investment or have a backup option then he shoud start his own work. if you are in company the risk is not yours its all company you just woke up every day , go to office doing work and have a normal life without having fear of losing anything.
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, exploring reasons why people choose self-employment, such as avoiding the feeling of being a 'slave' or a mere employee, and outlining disadvantages like financial risk and the potential for bankruptcy. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. The position is stated, but the arguments rely heavily on informal generalisations rather than fully extended, supported analysis. For instance, the discussion on why people leave companies is expressed somewhat emotionally ('like you are a slave') rather than analytically. Despite these limitations, all parts of the prompt are covered, fitting the descriptors for Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the minimal yet relevant development, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text shows some organisation, but the overall progression is disrupted by poor paragraphing and run-on sentences. The response is essentially broken into four massive blocks of text that mix multiple ideas without clear transitional signposts. Cohesive devices are minimal or inaccurate; phrases like 'that's why' and 'everything in this world has advantages and disadvantages as well, so if...' create a run-on effect that lacks control. Paragraphing is not used effectively to separate distinct sub-topics like reasons versus disadvantages. This level of organisation aligns best with Band 5.0 descriptors, where some organisation is present but cohesive devices and paragraphing are inadequate.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, such as repeating 'company', 'people', and 'risk' multiple times in close proximity. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'doing a labour' instead of 'doing manual labour', 'bankcrupt' (spelling error), and 'giving its time to company'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message about employment versus self-employment, the frequent errors and lack of less common lexical items restrict the score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing relies heavily on long, run-on compound-complex sentences joined loosely by coordinating conjunctions and commas, such as 'Nowadays many people choose to be self-employed... because many people think... and they think... and they are at the same place and most important thing they think if they work for someone else...'. There is a lack of secure control over punctuation and sentence boundaries, resulting in multiple comma splices. Errors in verb forms and pronoun agreement (e.g., 'giving its time to company', 'running is own business', 'if a person had enough investment... he shoud start') frequently impede clarity. This falls under Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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