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)

In recent years, people choose to be self-employed, rather to work for a company has increasingly common. while this development has several disadvantages, it also has disadvantges. This essay will discuss both the benefits and drawbacks.

One major advantage of people choose to be self-employed, rather to work for a company or organisation is people think thats the job person always job person, while the self-employed has plan to start bussiness, they work for there self. This means in jobs has fixed salaries they doesn't matter to them how many constraints you have. For example, three year ago i am doing job in metaxpert company, however my salary package was very low since one year. I worked hard and giving extra time to company but no chance to promotion.And the I quit my job and thought of starting my own small business. However, now alhumdulilah i run my own import export business and earn in lakhs. Another benefits is people make rule according to this and fixed limits.

However, there are also some disadvantages. One major drawback is people cannot run the business without expercience, while the expercience came from job, if you have not expercience you face numerous problem. This can lead to destroy your business and waste your work, this is the reason the people doing jobs. In jobs they gain experciences and improve skills. For instance, after completing the master degree my friend started the business, nevertheless they have no expertise in market, later on they faced a big loss. After wasting money they started internship in company.

In conclusions, although many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation has certain disadvantages, its advantages such as Owning or running a business provides significant financial, personal, and operational advantages compared to traditional employment cannot be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions: you explain the appeal of self-employment through greater control and the possibility of higher earnings, then discuss the risk of starting without experience. The examples about leaving a low-paid job to establish an import-export business and your friend’s business loss make the response relevant. However, the reasons for choosing self-employment are less clearly explained than the disadvantage, and the point about setting your own rules is not developed. The conclusion also introduces a broad claim about financial, personal, and operational advantages rather than clearly summarising the reasons already discussed. To strengthen the response, explain the benefits directly and develop each main idea with a clear cause-and-effect link.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Examples are placed near the ideas they support, and linking expressions such as “For example,” “However,” and “For instance” help signal relationships. At times, though, progression is difficult to follow because several ideas are compressed into long, unclear sentences, particularly in the first body paragraph. Some links are also mechanical or confusing: “while” does not clearly connect the ideas in the opening, and “nevertheless” is awkwardly used before the friend’s lack of expertise. Make each paragraph follow a clear sequence—main point, explanation, example—and use pronouns and connectors only when their references and logical relationships are clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “self-employed,” “fixed salaries,” “promotion,” “expertise,” and “financial.” These choices help communicate the topic, but the range is limited and several inaccurate or misspelled forms make the writing less clear. Examples include “expercience,” “bussiness,” “there self,” and “disadvantges.” Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “job person always job person” and “earn in lakhs,” which may not be clear to all readers. Aim for accurate collocations and a more precise range when describing independence, income, and business risks. Proofreading spelling and word forms would make your meaning easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “while,” “since,” and “although,” and the reader can generally identify your main points. However, sentence structures are often faulty, especially when several clauses are joined together. For example, “people choose to be self-employed … has increasingly common” has an incomplete verb construction, while “they doesn't matter” shows an agreement error. Tense control is also inconsistent in “three year ago i am doing job,” and the final sentence does not form a clear grammatical comparison. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, articles, plurals, and past-tense forms. Shorter, accurately controlled sentences will improve clarity while you develop complex structures.

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