Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-14

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)

It is clear that several people focuses on to be a entreprenuer than to work under any companies or organizations. While self employment gives liberty, the employment under anyone put pressure by deadline or aceheiving target.Though own business gives the oppurtunity to work on own pathway, it demerits outweigh it merits. Some drawbacks of self employment are financial losses and management.

First of all, people nowadays love to have their own buisness due to independencity. People do not like to work under anyone or under any pressure. Self made business gives the chance to work on own interest and skills. There is a high chance that one can give his full potential via this pathway.

However, staring own startup without any previous knowledge can bring some disadvantages too, There is a potential risk to have losses due to improper ideas on that field. In additon, maintaining the new business is quite bothering for new comers. People often find it difficult to co-operate with the situations. Consequently, many startup business see a huge economic burden after one year of starting. For instance, in urban area nearly 30% of the new businesses are under losses.

To conclude, self-employment has many benefits such as liberty for which young genreation are focus on entreprenuership rather choosing their carrier under someone.But, own business will be benefical and effective after gaining some expertise by working under someone who are expert on that field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: independence and working according to personal interests are given as reasons, while financial losses and the demands of managing a business are identified as disadvantages. The example about new businesses experiencing losses also supports the second point. However, the reasons and drawbacks are only briefly explained, and the claim that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits is introduced without being required or fully justified. The response also does not meet the stated 250-word minimum; it is 13 words short. To strengthen the response, explain how independence affects people’s working lives and develop the financial or management risks with a clearer, relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining a reason, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Transitions such as “First of all,” “However,” and “To conclude” help signal these stages. However, progression within paragraphs is limited, and some links between ideas are abrupt. For example, the introduction says the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, but the body does not compare them or explain this position. The conclusion adds advice about gaining expertise without clearly connecting it to the earlier discussion. Build each paragraph around one main point, explain it, and then show how the example supports it; use referencing and transitions to make those links explicit rather than relying mainly on signposting phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employment,” “independence,” “financial losses,” “management,” and “economic burden.” These choices make the main subject understandable. However, the range is limited, and repeated or inaccurate expressions sometimes make the meaning less natural, as in “work on own interest,” “new startup,” and “under losses.” There are also noticeable spelling and word-form errors, including “entreprenuer,” “oppurtunity,” and “independencity.” Aim to learn common collocations as complete phrases and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise terms such as “business owner,” “operating costs,” or “financial instability” would help you express the ideas clearly without relying on broad or awkward wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “While self employment gives liberty” and a cause-and-effect sentence beginning “Consequently.” However, errors are frequent, and some sentence structures are faulty enough to make the reader pause. For example, “several people focuses” has subject–verb disagreement, while “the employment under anyone put pressure” has problems with agreement and sentence construction. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent, as in “a entreprenuer” and “many startup business.” Punctuation is sometimes missing or misplaced, particularly where sentences run together. Practise building accurate basic sentences first, then add subordinate clauses; check agreement, articles, plural forms, and sentence boundaries during proofreading.

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