Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-01

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 6.0)

Recently, many people choose to be self-empolyed, rather than to work for a company or organisation.

Many individuals may prefer to be self-employed owing to the fact that their salary at the end of the month may not reflect their worth, also the need to be independent and have their free time at will could be a contributing factor.

Firstly, most people when employed in an organization are underpayed irrespective of their academic qualifications and skills acquired. Employers have the notion that they are doing the employees a favour by recruiting them and offer to pay peanuts not minding the status of the person. For example, an engineer with over ten years of experience was recently employed by an oil and gas company and at the end of the negotiation offered to pay him nothing less than a million naira simply because they believe that there are a lot of persons out there who are not gainfully employed and would jump at the offer not minding the pay.

Secondly, being self-employed allows you the free time to do some other activities bothering on you. For example, a married woman who wakes up as early as 5 a.m to get the children ready for school, if self employed can take her time, get enough and adequate sleep at night, likewise there will be an ample opportunity to attend to other pressing and family needs which being in an organisation may not offer at will.

However, being self employed has its own disadvantages. This is because it requires a huge capital and if the individual is an very careful may run a risk of depreciation which may threaten the foundation of the business. Moreover, the individual takes the burden of being bothe the CEO and the subordinates, and may not be able to meet up with the demands that comes with being self employed, but this can be resolved when an individual gets trained on how to run a sole man business.

In conclusion, being self employed is good and helps to boost the morale of people but it also comes with some disadvantages that may outweigh the disadvantages of working with an organization.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions: it gives reasons for choosing self-employment, including dissatisfaction with pay and greater control over time, and identifies disadvantages such as start-up capital and carrying multiple responsibilities. The examples about the engineer and the mother make the reasons more concrete. However, the disadvantages are less fully explained than the reasons, and the claim that an “an very careful” person risks depreciation is unclear: explain what kind of carelessness causes this risk. The conclusion also says the disadvantages may outweigh those of working for an organisation, rather than clearly comparing the two options. Develop this comparison and clarify the less-developed points to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure, moving from reasons to disadvantages and then to a conclusion. Paragraphing helps the reader follow the main stages, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “However” make the progression visible. Some connections are less smooth or precise: the opening sentence of the second paragraph combines low pay and independence in one long statement, while the following paragraphs treat them separately. The final sentence also repeats “disadvantages” and leaves the comparison unclear. Use topic sentences that preview each paragraph’s focus, and make references such as “this” or “it” clearly point to a specific idea. This would make cohesion less mechanical and improve the flow between claims and examples.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a reasonable range of vocabulary for the topic, including “academic qualifications,” “gainfully employed,” “capital,” and “depreciation.” These choices help communicate ideas about employment and business. However, several spelling, word-form, and collocation problems reduce precision, such as “self-empolyed,” “underpayed,” “bothering on you,” and “sole man business.” “Pay peanuts” is vivid but informal for this essay, and “nothing less than a million naira” does not clearly express whether the salary is high or low in context. Choose accurate, natural phrases and maintain a suitably formal register. More precise wording would help the reader understand the examples without changing the underlying ideas.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “if,” and “which,” and the main ideas are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “if the individual is an very careful may run a risk” lacks a clear subject and has an article error; “the demands that comes” has subject–verb disagreement; and “being bothe the CEO and the subordinates” has an unclear number relationship. The sentence beginning “For example, a married woman…” also needs a clearer main clause and more controlled punctuation. Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and divide long examples into shorter sentences where needed. This will improve accuracy while preserving the range of structures attempted.

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