Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-09

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)

In recent times, a steady decline has been observed in the number of people working in a company or corporation.This is due to the fact that, in today's world many people opt for self-employment rather than working under an instituition. This shift can be attributed to the state of work environment in companies nowadays. I will discuss the causes and drawbacks of this development in detail in upcoming paragraphs.

The primary reason for this pivot towards self-employment is toxic work culture. To be more precise, the work environment in offices is often very stressfull and toxic. Employees are often subjected to high work loads and short deadlines by their heads and seniors.Consequently, this has made many people unwilling to do traditional jobs.Consequently, this makes self-employment a more appealing option for many individuals.

Despite these underlying reasons, self-employment has several drawbacks.The most critical downside of being self-employed is unstability. To be elaborate, it does not offer a steady and reliable stream of income as compared to a traditional job. Monthly income can vary considerably depending on many factors like the state of the economy, demand and many more.This makes elf-employment less atrractive for many people.

To conclude, the phenomenon of increasing self-employment in today's world is primarily driven by people not wanting to work under a bad work environment , but it also has some serious drawbacks like unreliable income and unstability which cannot be ignored and should be considered before shifting from a job to self-employment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions and maintain a clear overall position: an unpleasant workplace can encourage people to become self-employed, while income uncertainty is a disadvantage. The explanation of workplace pressure is relevant, with high workloads and short deadlines as examples. However, the response is brief and the ideas are only partly developed: it does not explain other possible motivations, such as flexibility or independence, and the disadvantage is limited to income variation without a concrete example or further consequence. The conclusion repeats the main points rather than extending them. The response is also four words below the required minimum, so add a little relevant explanation and support to meet the task requirement and develop your ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph explaining a reason, one discussing a disadvantage, and a conclusion. The sequence is easy to follow, and signposting such as “The primary reason” and “Despite these underlying reasons” helps identify the purpose of each paragraph. This coherent arrangement meets the lower-band expectations and shows some stronger control. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical or repetitive: “Consequently” is used twice in close succession, and the conclusion largely restates the introduction and body. Some links between claims could be made more explicit—for example, explain how workplace stress leads someone to choose self-employment. Varying transitions and developing each paragraph around a clearer chain of reasoning would make progression more flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employment,” “work environment,” “high workloads,” “reliable stream of income,” and “demand.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and phrases such as “steady and reliable stream of income” show an attempt to be precise. However, the range is limited in places by repetition of “self-employment,” “work environment,” and “drawbacks,” while some word choices or forms are inaccurate: “unstability,” “stressfull,” “atrractive,” and “elf-employment.” “Under an institution” is also an awkward way to describe working for an employer. These errors do not prevent understanding, but careful proofreading and more natural collocations would improve control. Try using alternatives such as “income insecurity” and “workplace culture” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “the work environment in offices is often…” and a comparison in “as compared to a traditional job.” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and the response includes some effective cause-and-effect structures. There are, however, some errors in sentence boundaries and punctuation: “corporation.This” needs a space, and “seniors.Consequently” should be separated. The opening sentence also has an awkward construction, and the final sentence is long, with several ideas joined together. These issues rarely obstruct meaning, which is a strength, but more consistent punctuation and greater control of longer sentences would improve accuracy. Practise combining ideas with clear subordinate clauses rather than relying on extended sentences.

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