Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-28
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)
In my perspective, Self-employment is surging in a fast-paced world rather than working for an organisation or large companies. An individual thinks that self-employment provides them with freedom from the same day-to-day tasks under an organisation. However, time limits are another factor that affects the life of an individual in an organisation, whereas a self-employed person is not bound by time. He can start his job at any time during the day.
There are multiple cases regarding this change. A major factor is workload. In the 19s and 20s era, workload is less for an executive who has just joined, but it is higher for the employees. Another part is expenses, as expenses are increased due to the prices of products and the needs of an individual, and the organisation and company are unable to pay higher salaries. Conversely, a self-employed individual is capable of earning a higher amount for himself.
On the other hand, there are demerits and challenges that have occurred in self-employment:
- At initial stages, Self- employment require motivation and a good amount of money to raised his idea or business.
- Sometimes, Growth is less and loss is higher in own business.
- Future growth and targets will be achieved or not.
these are the cases that are challengeful for the self-employed person.
In conclusion, It totally depends on the need and capablities of the individual that he or she want to work under an organisation or company. In my opinion, self-employment gives a freedom in life as workload is less that working for an organisation.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing reasons why people choose self-employment, such as freedom and flexible working hours, and outlines disadvantages like initial costs and financial risks. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and lacks depth. For example, the statement 'In the 19s and 20s era, workload is less for an executive' is historically unclear and confusing, while the discussion on expenses feels disjointed. A clearer position is established, but the supporting arguments tend to be brief and slightly repetitive, which places this response comfortably at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraph divisions, including an introduction, body paragraphs addressing the prompt's main questions, and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen in the abrupt transition to bullet points in the third paragraph, which is not ideal for standard IELTS essay formatting. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun shift in 'He can start his job' and 'to raised his idea'. Progression is evident, but the cohesive links between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'self-employment', 'workload', 'financial risks', and 'demerits'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'growth is less and loss is higher', 'to raised his idea', and 'challengeful'. Word choice errors occasionally surface, but they do not severely impede overall communication. To reach higher bands, the writer needs to demonstrate more control over less common lexical items and precise word forms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and contrastive clauses ('whereas a self-employed person is not bound by time'). However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly with verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions (e.g., 'workload is less that working', 'Self- employment require', 'to raised his idea'). Punctuation and capitalization errors also appear mid-sentence, such as 'In conclusion, It totally depends'. While these errors do not completely obscure the writer's meaning, they occur with enough frequency to prevent the essay from achieving a Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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