Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-03

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)

These days, an increasing number of individuals are choosing to be self-employed, instead of working under a company or organisation. This essay examines that flexible working hours and earning higher profits are the reason behind this shift; however, there are certain disadvantages of being self-employed, which will be discussed in the upcoming pragaraphs.

One compelling reason is freedon and flexibility. This is to say if people will start their own business, they can choose working hours and work independently with their full potential. Neeless to say, working for someone might include restrictions such as following the rules and regulations owing to this they can not work efficiently, which results in low productivity. In addition, they will get chance to earn more profits. To claify, if they work for a company, they will get a fixed salary each month. But if they establish their own entreprise, they may get a chance to achieve more in the future.

Despite the advantages, being self-employed include certain disadvantages and difficulties. The primary one is financial instability. What I mean to say is that, unlike regular employees, self engaged people may not get a fixed salary every month, because business includes several ups and downs. Therefore, it is not necessary that they will earn profits everytime because businesses may face losses sometime. Moreover, self-employed people have to manage everything by their own such as managing, accounting, and recording, which will increase the workload of the individual.

In conclusion, being self-employed includes certain benefits such as freedom, flexibity and chance to earn higher income. Nevertheless, it can also include unstable earnings, more responsiblity and longer working hours.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the reasons for choosing self-employment, such as freedom, flexibility, and financial potential, and the disadvantages, including financial instability and increased responsibilities. The position is clear throughout the essay. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; for instance, the explanation of financial potential remains somewhat general ('achieve more in the future') and would benefit from further extension and specific examples. Despite this uneven development, all main parts of the prompt are adequately covered, fulfilling the requirements for this level while pointing toward higher standards of thorough elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Each paragraph has a clear central topic, such as the benefits in the second paragraph and the drawbacks in the third. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, although referencing and linking can occasionally feel slightly mechanical, as seen with phrases like 'What I mean to say is that'. Paragraphing is used appropriately throughout, and the introduction and conclusion frame the discussion effectively, satisfying the core organizational demands of this band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'financial instability' and 'entreprise'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('pragaraphs', 'freedon', 'Neeless', 'claify', 'entreprise', 'responsiblity') and minor word choice issues like 'self engaged people'. These errors indicate an attempt to use a broader vocabulary range with some inaccuracy, yet they rarely impede communication, perfectly reflecting the performance profile expected at this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as conditional and relative clauses effectively. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('earn more profits' instead of 'earn higher profits') and minor prepositional or agreement slips ('manage everything by their own' instead of 'on their own'). However, these errors rarely impede communication, and the overall control of basic and complex sentence patterns is maintained sufficiently to meet the criteria for this band.

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