Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-12

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 4.5)

Nowadays many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisaton.Is is positive or negative.

Nowadays many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisaton.And they have many reasos.

They are the own owner and they dont follow the exact time and they dont follow the boss order and if they work hard so they earn more money. They wake up when they want and go for own buisness.And how much they work hard they make much money.And if we leave in the comapany or organisaton so our salary is cut but in our buisness we leave when we want.These are positive side of self-employed.

But now we talk about the negative side of self-employed. Sometime the buisness is not running to much and we dont make money.And work in the company or organisation have fixed salary and we know the exact amount.And is this case the work in company or organisation is best.

Some peple says the work in company or organisation is better then self-employed beause we earn fixed amount salary and after some time we promote and the boss increase our salary. And some people says the self-employes is better than work in company because we dont need to listen boss order and we are the owner of own and who is the hard worker so the self-employed is better then work in company or organisation.

In my opinion the self-employes is better than work in company or organisation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You address both questions: you suggest that self-employment offers independence, flexible hours and the possibility of higher earnings, and you identify uncertain income as a disadvantage. However, the response is under the required length: it contains 223 words, and the 32 words copied from the task prompt are not counted. This leaves the explanations and examples quite limited. For instance, “if they work hard so they earn more money” gives a reason but does not explain how earnings depend on the business or provide a relevant example. Your final opinion is clear, but the task asks for reasons and disadvantages rather than whether self-employment is better overall. Develop both answers more fully and support them with specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response has a basic overall structure, moving from reasons for self-employment to disadvantages and then to a concluding opinion. This helps the reader identify the main topics. However, progression within paragraphs is weak: several points about ownership, working hours and income are joined together without clear explanation, and the final paragraph repeats ideas already given. Linking is also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “And” and “But now we talk about”. Some references, such as “in this case”, are not clearly connected to a specific point. Use separate, focused paragraphs for each question, arrange each paragraph around one main idea, and connect supporting explanations with clearer referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use a small set of relevant words and phrases, including “self-employed”, “fixed salary”, “owner” and “negative side”, so the main message is generally understandable. However, vocabulary is basic and repetitive, with “company or organisation”, “work hard” and “better” appearing several times. There are also frequent spelling errors, such as “organisaton”, “reasos”, “buisness” and “comapany”, which make the writing less clear and weaken control of written vocabulary. Some expressions are imprecise, for example “the business is not running to much” and “we leave when we want”. Build a wider range of accurate terms for independence, financial risk and working conditions, and proofread spelling and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most sentences use simple patterns, and the reader can usually understand the intended meaning. You attempt to connect ideas with conditional structures, as in “if they work hard so they earn more money”, but this construction is faulty. Errors are frequent in sentence formation and punctuation: “Is is positive or negative” is an incomplete and misplaced question, while “And they have many reasos” is an awkward sentence opening. There are also problems with articles, agreement and verb forms, as in “the self-employes is better” and “some people says”. Many sentences run together without appropriate punctuation. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then add controlled complex structures using “because”, “although” and “if”.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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