Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-07

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, lots of individuals choose self-employment instead of working for a company or an organization as there is more flexibility in working hours while also saving them from the office politics and having a fixed monthly salary. But there are still some disadvantages of self-employment.

People are more inclined into freelancing and opening a business nowadays especially the young adults. There are many reasons for choosing self-employment for example, they can be their own CEO. Nobody will be there to pressurize them for deadlines and there also won't be any office politics since they will mostly be working alone. There is also flexibilty in time, people who are self-employed themself decide on how many hours to work and when to work. Aside from that, it can also be financially beneficial since there is no concept of a monthly fixed income in self-employment. For them, the income can differ on a daily or a project wise basis.

However, self-employment also has its disadvantages. The earning can be inconsistent and the business or project itself can be unstable as well. They also have to manage everything themseves which can be pretty exausting at times as well. Like making content for their products, billing clients, sending mails for outstanding payments or having to work more hours in a day to keep up with the business or project. It can be very tedious at times. Contrastingly, working for a company or an organization brings stable monthly income, specifically assigned tasks and a fixed period of working hours on a daily basis. They also provide various perks for employees like health insurance, lunch, outings, bonuses, team bondings etc.

Therefore, self employment comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. While people choose to be self employed for time flexibilty and more control, there can still be disadvantages like financial instability or time management.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions and gives a clear overall account: flexibility, independence and potentially variable earnings are offered as reasons, while inconsistent income and the burden of managing all business tasks are identified as disadvantages. The examples of billing clients and following up on payments make the workload point relevant. However, some explanations are not fully clear or developed. For instance, “there is no concept of a monthly fixed income” is presented as a financial benefit, but the response does not explain how variable earnings benefit workers or acknowledge the risk this creates until later. The opening also mentions avoiding a fixed salary as an attraction, which could be clarified. Develop each main reason with a more precise explanation or example to make the discussion more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph explaining reasons, a paragraph on disadvantages and a concluding summary. The contrast between self-employment and company work helps the reader follow the discussion, and signposts such as “However” and “Therefore” make the main stages clear. At times, though, connections are mechanical or the reference is unclear. The opening sentence combines several points, and “Aside from that” introduces variable income without making its relationship to the earlier benefits clear. The disadvantages paragraph also shifts from the self-employed person’s workload to employee benefits rather abruptly. Use clearer topic sentences and link each example directly to the point it supports; this would create smoother progression within paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for discussing work and business, with relevant terms such as “self-employment,” “inconsistent,” “financially beneficial,” “outstanding payments” and “health insurance.” These choices allow the main ideas to be communicated, and the response attempts some less common expressions. However, several word choices or collocations are imprecise or informal, including “more inclined into freelancing,” “pressurize them for deadlines,” “project wise basis” and “team bondings.” There are also spelling errors in “flexibilty,” “themseves” and “exausting.” Aim for more natural phrasing, such as “drawn to freelancing,” “face pressure to meet deadlines” and “on a project-by-project basis,” and proofread spelling carefully. Greater precision would make the discussion sound more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex forms, including a subordinate clause in “While people choose to be self employed…” and a relative clause in “people who are self-employed…”. Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions occur. For example, “People are more inclined into freelancing” uses an incorrect preposition pattern, while “people who are self-employed themself decide” has an unclear structure and agreement problem. The fragment “Like making content for their products…” is not a complete sentence, and “the business or project itself can be unstable as well” would be clearer with a more precise subject. Practise complete sentence construction and check agreement, pronoun forms and clause structure while retaining the range of sentence types already attempted.

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