Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-22

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)

In recent times, individuals prefer to make businesses on their own instead of working for others. This essay will address both the reason behind this preference and the consequences it might carry.

One main reason for this choice is less job satisfaction which is the most considered fact to divert people's mind to run their own organization. Company they work for might not guarantee their job security or provide less payment to their talents or efforts. People who developed their skills through spending a lot of money to their education, expects higher ranges of salary so that those can be fulfilled. For example, people who studied in ranked universites with greater fees are unlikely to do a job with less salary. Hence, they chose to be self-employed and use their skills developing the business and make it grow.

However, there are major drawbacks to this decision, such as failure in running the business successfully; it is not necessary that all individuals will have similar kind of knowledge or skills to run a business, therefore they may end up with losing their investments along with the profits. Another disadvantage could be that they will be tightly packed with their schedules, hence the might have a little or no time for themselves or their family. For example, during occations a supermarket should be opened in order to make greater sales, therefore, the owners have no independency to celebrate the moments with their families.

In conclusion, due to the poor salary range and less job security one might opt for their independent workig background; this might welcome drawbacks like business failure or packed scedule to the self-employed people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a relevant focus: the first body paragraph links dissatisfaction with pay and job security to choosing self-employment, while the second explains risks of business failure and reduced family time. The supermarket example helps illustrate the latter disadvantage. However, some ideas are more fully addressed than others. The reasons for dissatisfaction are stated broadly, and the claim that graduates of expensive, highly ranked universities are unlikely to accept lower salaries needs clearer explanation or support. The disadvantages are more concrete, but the discussion could explain more fully how financial losses or long working hours affect individuals. Develop each main point with a clearer cause-and-effect explanation and a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion that summarises both. Linking expressions such as “One main reason,” “However,” and “In conclusion” make the direction of the argument easy to follow. Some cohesion is mechanical, though, and a few connections are unclear. For instance, “People who developed their skills through spending a lot of money to their education, expects higher ranges of salary so that those can be fulfilled” does not clearly connect the investment in education to the expected salary. The repeated use of “hence” also makes transitions feel formulaic. Use clearer referencing and vary transitions, while ensuring each sentence follows logically from the previous one.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “job security,” “investments,” “profits,” and “self-employed,” which helps communicate the main ideas. However, the range and control of word choice are limited, and several noticeable collocation or word-form errors make parts of the response awkward or less clear. Examples include “make businesses on their own,” “less job satisfaction,” “higher ranges of salary,” and “packed schedule.” Spelling errors such as “universites,” “occations,” and “independency” also affect accuracy. Aim to learn common word partnerships for employment and business, and check spelling and word forms carefully. More precise phrasing would make your explanations sound natural and help distinguish the causes and consequences.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “it is not necessary that all individuals will have similar kind of knowledge or skills,” and most of the argument remains understandable. However, attempts at longer sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction recur. For example, “People who developed their skills … expects” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “Company they work for might not guarantee their job security” needs an article or plural subject. In “hence the might have a little or no time,” the pronoun is incorrect, and the sentence about education and salary is difficult to parse. Practise building accurate complex sentences and check agreement, articles, and pronoun references before adding further clauses.

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