Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-11-02

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)

The given assertion argues about the current employment situation where the people are not ready to serve anyone and choose to be self employed with there own business ideas or establishing there own work aspects.

In previous years working with an organisation or in a companey was a major gole of youth. But nowadays peolpe prefer to be self-employed, rather than to work for a company or organisation. Major aspects that can be seen behind this are less opportunity, low income and no complete rights.

However, being self-employed also has serious disadvantage. The biggest problem is the lack of stable income. Unlike regular employees who get a fixed salary every month, self employed workers only earn money when they find clients or sell products. If they get sick or take a vacation, they do not get paid. Another drawback is the high level of stress and responsiblity. A business owner has has to handle everything alone, including marketing accounting and costomers service. This often leads to long working hours and a poor work life balance.

In conclusion, people choose self-employment because it gives them freedom and the chance to earn more. However they must also face financial insecurity and heavy responsibilities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify reasons people may choose self-employment, including limited opportunities, low income and a desire for greater freedom, and you explain two relevant disadvantages: unstable earnings and stress from managing many responsibilities. However, the reasons for choosing this path are only briefly listed, and the opening claim that people are “not ready to serve anyone” is unclear and not developed. The conclusion introduces freedom and the chance to earn more, but these points are not explained in the main body. The response addresses both questions only partially and needs fuller explanations and relevant examples. It is also 189 words, 61 words below the 250-word minimum; 13 words copied from the task prompt were excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. The disadvantages paragraph progresses logically from unstable income to stress and gives explanations for each. However, the reasons for choosing self-employment are compressed into a list in the introduction rather than developed in a separate body paragraph, so the overall progression is uneven. The opening sentence is difficult to follow, and the conclusion’s points about freedom and higher earnings are not clearly linked to earlier explanation. Use separate paragraphs for each question and connect each main idea to its explanation with clear referencing and transitions, rather than relying mainly on “However” and “In conclusion.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “self-employed,” “stable income,” “fixed salary,” “financial insecurity” and “work life balance,” which helps communicate the main points. There is also some variety in describing disadvantages, such as “lack of stable income” and “high level of stress.” However, several spelling errors—“companey,” “peolpe,” “responsiblity” and “costomers”—are noticeable, and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “serve anyone,” “work aspects” and “no complete rights.” These choices sometimes make the intended meaning less clear. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and proofread spelling; for example, explain that self-employment offers autonomy rather than saying people are unwilling to serve others.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use mostly straightforward sentence patterns, with some successful complex structures, such as “Unlike regular employees who get a fixed salary every month, self employed workers only earn money when they find clients or sell products.” This shows an ability to link ideas and give conditions. However, control is inconsistent in places: “The given assertion argues about” is an awkwardly constructed opening, and “A business owner has has to handle” contains an unnecessary repeated verb. The first sentence also has a long, unclear structure, while punctuation is missing in the list “marketing accounting and costomers service.” Use a wider range of controlled sentence forms, check verb construction and punctuation, and keep introductory sentences direct.

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