Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-28

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)

Yes! many people nowadays prefer to be self-employed, rather than working for a company or a organisation and it do have different reasons.

A person working in a company or a organization demands for his/her rights and respect. In accordance to me the major reason of this case is toxicity in work relations. For example; a person working in a company wants a increment in one's salary but the boss isn't doing any regardless of one's hardwork. These kind of issues led one to be self-employed. As, being self-employed is hard initially but after getting settled it results in massive growth and income using which one can live one's live peacfully.

As, self-employment do have advantages it do have disvantages also. Like, one who just left one's job to be self-employed have to get a stable income to keep running one's life if one do not have any other source of income one will struggle alot to be self-employed as self-employment doesn't start giving you return on very first day, it will take time to give you a healthy return. Secondly, self-employment do requires a investment of funds which one should have to do so. In addition, one should be aware of risk of failure as a self-employment can fail if not looked after carefully or managed properly.

For example; a person who is doing a job and one's work relation is toxic also one have a family and one have to manage all expenses of them as well and one's salary is not enough to do so. One will plan to get self employed and one gives resign and get self-employed, with investing all his savings. After some time, if one had given proper dedication and attention to one's work one will be succeed and incase one hadn't, one will face a failure and now even one's saving had gone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions: you explain that dissatisfaction with workplace relationships and pay can motivate people to become self-employed, then discuss unstable income, start-up investment, and the risk of failure. These are relevant reasons, and the final example connects the risks to a worker with family expenses. However, the explanation of why self-employment appeals to people is less developed than the disadvantages: the claim that it can bring “massive growth and income” is asserted rather than explained, and the example focuses mainly on a hypothetical individual. Develop the benefits with a clearer explanation, such as greater independence or control over working hours, and support each main point with a specific example or consequence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a concluding example. The ideas generally follow a sensible order, and signposts such as “For example,” “Secondly,” and “In addition” help show relationships. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, particularly through repeated use of “one” and repeated sentence openings with “As.” The final example is lengthy and repeats points already made, rather than providing a concise conclusion. Some references, such as “these kind of issues” and “one,” are not always clear or natural. Use clearer paragraph development, vary linking methods, and make the final paragraph synthesise the main points rather than restate them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employed,” “stable income,” “investment of funds,” “risk of failure,” and “managed properly.” This gives you enough range to discuss both motivations and drawbacks. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “demands for his/her rights,” “a healthy return,” and “get self-employed.” There are also spelling errors, including “peacfully,” “disvantages,” and “incase,” which reduce the accuracy of the vocabulary. Aim to learn common word partnerships and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “workplace conflict,” “reliable income,” and “become self-employed” would make your ideas clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including conditional structures such as “if one do not have any other source of income” and “if not looked after carefully.” The overall meaning is usually understandable, but some errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence construction remain. For example, “it do have different reasons” should use a singular auxiliary, while “one will be succeed” has an incorrect verb form. The long final example also contains several clauses joined without clear grammatical control, and punctuation after introductory phrases is inconsistent. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and conditional forms, and divide long sentences into shorter, controlled units while retaining some complex structures.

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