Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-25

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 6.0)

The world of work is becoming more complex with the coming day due to technological advancements and uncertainities. Most of the people now prefer to be self-employed instead of being staying in a company because of the fear of change and job security. This essay argues about the reasons behind this transition and the costs of self-employment.

Today, technology is changing rapidly and the business operations demand optimal solutions by keeping their expenses under control. Most of the companies exertsthis pressure on their existing staff by demanding more complex work for the same pay. With the involvement of technology in their routine tasks, emplyees develop a sense of fear due to change in their nature of job they start to have fear of job insecurity.

Secondly, as work culture is changing across the world and more companies are shifting towards felxibility and informal settings, the organizations with rigid controls and hierarchy scares the people out. Working from the comfort zone and under favourable setting has noe become the top priority of the employees. In this way, they can allocate the more time to other activities of their lives.

However, self-employment has its own cons. Firstly, when a person is working independently his training and developent stops which are provided by the organizations. Secondly, the other perks associated with job, for instance, gratuity schemes and health benefits, are also not available

Finally, whether a person is self-employed or is working in a professional setting at a workplace, he has to work. But the cost of self-employed is much higher in self emloyment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the task by discussing reasons for choosing self-employment, such as changing technology and the desire for flexibility, as well as disadvantages like the lack of training and employee perks. A clear position is established in the introduction. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed; for example, the claim about 'fear of change and job security' is somewhat contradictory as a reason to *become* self-employed, since self-employment is typically perceived as less secure. The arguments regarding company pressure are relevant but lack specific examples. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed with some under-development of ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing separate points, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Secondly', 'However', and 'Finally' are used to structure the text, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is utilized, though the final conclusion paragraph is extremely brief and feels truncated. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional abrupt shifts in logic, such as in the final sentence 'the cost of self-employed is much higher in self emloyment', create minor disruptions in the flow of information. This aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'technological advancements', 'optimal solutions', and 'professional setting'. However, there are notable word-choice errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'uncertainities', 'exertsthis', 'emplyees', and 'felxibility'. Furthermore, the phrase 'cost of self-employed is much higher in self emloyment' contains repetitive and imprecise wording. While communication is not severely impeded, these frequent lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips prevent the score from reaching Band 6.5 or higher, placing it firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including missing prepositions, article misuse, and word form errors (e.g., 'instead of being staying in a company', 'change in their nature of job they start to have fear', 'allocate the more time', and 'development' spelled as 'developent'). Punctuation is occasionally missing, particularly at the end of the fourth paragraph. Because the frequent errors occasionally cause minor re-reading by the reader, the grammar profile aligns with Band 5.5.

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