Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-25

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)

From the past few years most of the people are prefer to work on their own instead of working with any company or an organisation. There might be the case that they prefer to work in their own comfort zone as a freelancers. In my opinion, there are some disadvantages and advantages of being self-employed.

Firstly, we will discuss the disadvantages of being self employed. People who involve in freelancing or prefer to be self-employed are most probably stays at home and often they could feel lonely because they are only surrounded by electronic devices instead of people. The major disadvantage is that, they can not be involved in any type of social activities, seminars and conferences arranged by a companies. However, with the passage of time they prefer to stay at their own peace in future if they join any company the main concern for them is to adjust with them.

Secondly, we will discuss some advantages of being self employed because every coin has two sides. The main advantage of being self-employed is that they do not have any kind of work pressure from their manager or boss because they are free to work on their own. Furthermore, they have perfect work life balance they spend more time with their family and friends and if they close a major deal and get hands on the handsome amount of money they do not have to share with anyone.

In conclusion, there are some positive and some negative impacts of being self employed, some people are prefer to do work on their own which could make them feel lonely sometimes, but at-least they do not have to work under pressure because of targets.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both required questions by suggesting that people value working in their own comfort zone and describing disadvantages such as loneliness and difficulty adjusting to company life. You also give advantages, including freedom from a manager and more time with family, but these do not directly explain why people choose self-employment as fully as the task requires. The response therefore covers the topic, but some ideas remain general or unclear: for example, the claim that freelancers cannot take part in social activities, seminars or conferences is not explained or supported. Develop the reasons for choosing this work arrangement and add a specific example to clarify how its disadvantages affect someone.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for disadvantages and advantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main sections. However, the progression is somewhat mechanical, and the essay’s organisation does not consistently match the question: the body discusses disadvantages first and then advantages, while the task asks why people choose self-employment and what its disadvantages are. Some links between ideas are also unclear, particularly the sentence beginning “However, with the passage of time,” which does not clearly connect to the preceding point. Use topic sentences that directly answer each question and make the relationships between supporting ideas explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employed,” “freelancing,” “work pressure,” “social activities,” and “work life balance.” These terms make the main ideas understandable, and phrases such as “every coin has two sides” show an attempt to vary expression. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “stay at their own peace,” “get hands on the handsome amount of money,” and “close a major deal.” Repetition of “self-employed” and “work” also limits flexibility. Aim for more natural combinations and precise wording, such as describing freelancers as “working independently” or saying they “earn a substantial income.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a reason clause with “because” and a conditional structure in “if they join any company.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “most of the people are prefer” combines incompatible verb forms, while “they are only surrounded” does not fit the intended meaning as naturally as “they are surrounded.” There are also agreement problems in “a companies” and “some people are prefer.” Review subject–verb agreement and choose one correct verb pattern at a time. Breaking up the long sentence beginning “Furthermore” would also help control punctuation and structure.

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