Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-24

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 this essay we will discuss that many person want to be selp employed rather than working for any company or organisation.What could be the disadvantages of being self employed and in the end i will give my opinion.

Very first, There are too many person who dont want to work for any company because they think that 9-5 is a trap and they dont like working for under leadership.Thats why a lot of person open their own startups and offline businesses.Then they take stress a lot because an owner has to work more than the employe.An employe will work for you from 9-5 then its your headache now.

Moreover, It looks easy to be the owner but there are too many disadvantages of being self employed.An owner has to sacrifice so many things.Their peace, family, friends they have to be totally in.Sometimes they dont even get time to eat.Worried for the meetings and preparing employes for meetings.They have to work carefully in cases of loss.Owners salary is not confirm like employes.Offline businessmen who own shops have to worry more because in cases of natural disasters or any robberies they have to take several losses of the shops.

In conclusion, i believe that being a employe is better than being self-employed because you dont have to worry for the comapnies profits and losses you just do your work from 9-5 then the shift ends.An exact salary on the first day of the month and few holidays a month plus festival bonuses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that people seek independence from a 9-to-5 routine and leadership, and you describe pressures such as long hours, uncertain income, and losses from disasters or theft. Your conclusion also gives a clear preference for employment. However, the reasons are brief and several points need explanation or a relevant example; for instance, the claim that owners “have to sacrifice” family and peace is not developed. The introduction promises an opinion “in the end” rather than clearly previewing the response. The response is 243 words, so it falls seven words short of the 250-word minimum; the nine words copied from the task prompt are not counted. Develop the causes and disadvantages more fully and support them with specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Connectors such as “Very first,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the answer. However, progression within paragraphs is often abrupt: the first body paragraph moves from dislike of leadership to starting businesses and then to the owner’s stress without clearly explaining the links. Several short statements, including “Their peace, family, friends they have to be totally in,” make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Referencing is also sometimes unclear, as in “Then they take stress a lot.” Use clearer topic sentences, link each explanation to its main point, and vary transitions rather than relying on a few formulaic signals.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employed,” “leadership,” “salary,” “natural disasters,” and “profits and losses.” These terms allow the reader to understand the main ideas. However, the range is limited and several expressions are repeated or imprecise, such as “too many person,” “take stress a lot,” and “work for under leadership.” Spelling errors, including “selp employed,” “employe,” and “comapnies,” also reduce accuracy and can distract the reader. Some word combinations sound unnatural, for example “salary is not confirm.” Build a wider set of accurate phrases for independence, financial uncertainty, and workload, and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, the range of structures is limited, and errors occur frequently in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence boundaries. Examples include “many person want,” “a employe,” and “Owners salary is not confirm.” The opening also runs several ideas together without appropriate punctuation, while “Worried for the meetings and preparing employes for meetings” is a fragment rather than a complete sentence. These patterns sometimes make the reader pause to interpret your meaning. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and article use, and turn fragments into complete sentences. Use a few controlled complex sentences to explain causes and consequences.

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