Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Nowadays a lot of individuals have decided to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation, and this could be because of job security, job scarcity, low income or wages from the company. There are also disadvantages that comes with being self employed like not having stable source of income, not being able to predict circumstances that might occur in the future, and not having enough capital to improve your business or company to a large scale.

In this essay i'm going to be discussing the reasons to why people choose to be self-employed and also the disadvantages of being self employed.

In this present era, people have come to realise that being self employed is better that working for a company, and this is because during the past years where they have being formally employed, they put in all their efforts to make the company grow, they make sure they have the organisation best interests at heart, and they are fully committed, however they have come to the realisation that all effort being put doesn't matter, and when it's time to layoff staffs, they will be the very first person to be fired and they will have nothing to back on with. For example people that work in tech companies like meta, earn good amount of money, but their jobs can be easily replaced or taken from them, due to downsizing, replacement by AI or lack of funds from investors, because of this people will start their own company and be self employed.

Furthermore, when there is job scarcity in the country, people will try to create different avenues for them to make money instead of looking for jobs in the society, also when the salary isn't tallying with their expections they will just think about using that same effort in building their own business or company.

However, there can be some disadvantages to being self-employed like not having a stable source of income, since your company doesn't really have structure and it's not properly know, you can't really determine or predict how profits will be made everytime so this will be very inconsistent at the early stage.

Also having enough capital to move your business to a large scale might not be easy since you don't have people that can trust or back up your business.

In conclusion, i think being self-employed is at the advantage to the individuals as it will prevent them from several disadvantages rather than working for a company.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it gives reasons for self-employment, including job insecurity, scarcity of jobs and dissatisfaction with wages, and identifies unstable income and difficulty raising capital as disadvantages. The example of technology-company layoffs helps illustrate insecurity, and the main position—that people may prefer working for themselves—is clear. However, some points are more fully explained than others. The discussion of layoffs and starting a business has supporting detail, while the point about low salaries is only briefly stated. The conclusion also says self-employment prevents disadvantages, which is not clearly reconciled with the disadvantages described. Develop each reason with a clear explanation or example, and make the final position more precise. (13 words copied from the task prompt were not counted.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate discussion of reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing generally helps the reader follow the two parts of the task, and transitions such as “Furthermore” and “However” signal changes in direction. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes loose: the first body paragraph combines past employment, layoffs, AI and starting a company in a long sequence, while the second reason receives only brief treatment. The introduction also repeats the essay plan rather than advancing the discussion. Some linking is mechanical, and references such as “this” in “because of this people will start their own company” could be more explicit. Organise each paragraph around one main point and connect explanation and example more clearly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “job scarcity,” “downsizing,” “stable source of income,” “capital” and “investors.” These choices allow the main ideas to be understood, and there is some variety beyond basic everyday language. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “salary isn't tallying with their expections,” “nothing to back on with,” and “the organisation best interests.” Repetition of “company,” “business” and “self-employed” also limits flexibility. Spelling errors such as “expections” and “know” where “known” is intended reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural phrasing and check spelling; for example, use “salary does not meet their expectations” and “have no financial safety net.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There is an attempt to use both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “when” and “since,” and the meaning is generally recoverable. However, control is uneven, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “There are also disadvantages that comes” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “they have being formally employed” uses an incorrect verb form. Other issues include “better that working” and “they will be the very first person,” where comparison and number agreement are not controlled. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, including lowercase “i” and a long sentence that would be clearer if divided. Practise accurate agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries, then proofread each sentence for one clear subject and main verb.

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