Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
People are becoming self employ nowadays and this trend is going viral day by day.Peoples prefer to work independently rather that for a company or organisation.self employment has advantages and disadvantages that we discuss in this essy.
Mostly people choose self employed due to run their own business as own business has no time flexibility.For example,one of my friend start their own work and now he has his own company.Moreover we are free to work at any time of the day, we also do our work nihjt night even at weekend days.People develops many ways of working in self employed as they work in Pakistan and show their location in UK and other many countries because they directly contract to owners and take project online.Peoples builds a lot of connections with other countries and open a source of earning money themselves.Now, mostly peoples feel relaxing mentally and physically as they are free too work whenever they want.
There are also many disadvantages in self employed.First of all, their job is not permnent as their business also go down due to market collapse.For example,I started my own business but due to financial issue, I cannot continue it.nowadays
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
You address both questions by giving reasons for self-employment—flexibility, online work and international connections—and beginning to discuss disadvantages such as business failure and financial problems. However, the response is incomplete: the disadvantage section stops after one example, and the reasons are mostly asserted rather than explained or supported. The opening says the essay will discuss advantages and disadvantages, but the task specifically asks why people choose this work and what its drawbacks are. The response also does not meet the required minimum length, which limits how fully you can develop both parts. To improve, explain each main point with a clear cause-and-effect link and add a developed disadvantage, such as irregular income or lack of employee benefits, supported by a relevant example.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
There is a basic overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph about reasons, and a paragraph introducing disadvantages. This helps the reader identify the two sides of the topic. However, progression is limited because the final paragraph ends abruptly, and several ideas in the reasons paragraph are placed together without clear links—for example, flexibility, working online for overseas clients, and feeling relaxed. Connect each point to the next and give each paragraph a clear focus. Linking phrases such as “Moreover” and “First of all” are useful attempts, but some transitions feel mechanical, and the reference in “one of my friend” is not clear in context. A complete conclusion would also help the response feel finished.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self-employed,” “flexibility,” “contract,” “project,” and “financial issue.” These choices show that you can communicate the main subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making meaning difficult to follow. For example, “viral” is not a natural way to describe a growing employment trend, and “business has no time flexibility” seems to mean that it offers flexibility. There are also repeated forms such as “people/peoples” and spelling errors such as “permnent” and “essy.” Aim to use precise phrases such as “greater control over working hours” and “financial difficulties,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, including a reason clause in “as they are free to work whenever they want” and a contrast introduced by “but.” However, the range remains limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to understand. Examples include “People are becoming self employ,” “one of my friend start,” and “their business also go down,” where forms and subject–verb agreement are not controlled. Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also inconsistent: several sentences run together, while the final “nowadays” is left unfinished. Practise accurate present and past verb forms, singular and plural agreement, and complete sentence construction. Then proofread for capital letters and full stops so that each idea is clearly separated.
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