Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-08

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 6.5)

In current times, people are more prone towards self-employment rather than being an organization employee. This is because the newer generation are not happy to work for others. However, this argument overlooks the risks associated with being a freelancer or a business owner, the major demerits to this are huge early investment and unstable income.

Happiness is a major factor for new adults while deciding on a career. A standard 8 hour shift in a company may include dealing with an angry boss and non-cooperative colleagues. Despite working hard, the younger generation feel that they are not getting enough compliments; however, a single mistake would immediately garner a lesson from the superior. A good work culture is where everybody shares and learn knowledge without worrying about office politics. For example, a human resources conducted a survey on employees on their notice period and found out that the majority of people leaves the workplace because of their superior and not because of company itself.

Self-employment should be encouraged but people should be aware of the consequences of the failure. Firstly, there is no stability in business, the customers may come on the first day but may not come on following days, leading to net loss in that period. Secondly, to successfully start a business, a huge initial capital is required, which is likely not possible without generational wealth. To exemplify, many freelancers have variable income throughout the year, this could become a critical problem if the person has not saved up enough money to get through that difficult times.

To conclude, in spite of disadvantages such as unstable income, many of the newer generation would rather take the risks and be self-employed then to be 9 to 5 worker.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall position: dissatisfaction with workplace conditions can encourage self-employment, while financial uncertainty is a key drawback. The examples about difficult managers and freelancers’ variable earnings help make the points relevant. This meets the task well, and the explanation of unstable income is more developed than the point about start-up capital, which is asserted as requiring generational wealth without considering loans, gradual growth, or other funding. The reason for choosing self-employment is also focused mainly on unhappiness with employers; adding motivations such as flexibility, autonomy, or pursuing a personal business idea would make the response more complete. More specific support for the survey example would strengthen the argument further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph explaining a reason, one discussing disadvantages, and a conclusion. Ideas generally progress logically, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “To conclude” help readers follow the argument. The contrast introduced by “However” also signals the shift from motivation to risk. To make the organisation more flexible and cohesive, connect ideas within paragraphs more explicitly rather than relying mainly on sequencing words. For example, explain how the workplace problems described lead people to prefer independence. Some references are unclear, such as “this argument” in the introduction and “that difficult times” near the end; clearer links would improve flow and precision.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employment,” “unstable income,” “initial capital,” and “office politics.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and attempts at more formal language are evident. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “more prone towards self-employment,” “a human resources conducted a survey,” and “garner a lesson.” “Demerits” is also less natural in this context than “drawbacks.” These slips do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim to learn common word partnerships and choose vocabulary that fits the intended meaning, such as describing employees as “dissatisfied” rather than saying they are “not happy to work for others.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses such as “Despite working hard…” and the conditional structure “if the person has not saved up enough money.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “the newer generation are” has subject–verb disagreement, while “the majority of people leaves” should use a plural verb. In “everybody shares and learn knowledge,” the verbs do not agree, and “a single mistake would immediately garner a lesson” also has an unclear grammatical relationship between the action and its result. Review agreement, articles, and plural forms, and proofread longer sentences for punctuation and clause structure. Greater accuracy across these structures would make the argument easier to read.

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