Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)
Every individual have their personal opinions and demands on either being employed by a company or chossin to be self-employed. Both views have their own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the employees' interests, salary preference, teamwork ability etc.
In my perspective, working for an organisation or company would be more convinient than being self-employed. There are various factors to learn from being in an environment with individuals of having different thinking process, creativity, team cooperation, time management and more abiities of handling a department that is part of the organisation. Futhermore, workers get to learn from each other about different aspects of handling a company throughh the importance of leadership, good communication, team work and critical decision making. For example, regarding creativity, The company needs a new product for
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 3.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5
The response only minimally addresses the task. It gives a personal preference for company employment and mentions possible benefits of working with colleagues, such as learning about teamwork and leadership, but it does not explain why many people choose self-employment or identify any disadvantages of it. The example about a company needing a new product is unfinished, so it does not support a developed point. The response also contains 129 words, below the required 250, leaving too little space to answer both questions with reasons and relevant examples. To improve, address each question directly, develop several relevant points, and complete examples that show how those points apply in practice.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
There is a basic paragraph structure: an opening statement is followed by a paragraph about working for an organisation. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore” and “For example” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the response does not progress through the two questions in the prompt, and the final example stops mid-sentence, leaving the discussion incomplete. The opening also introduces a comparison of advantages and disadvantages that is not carried through. To make the organisation clearer, use separate paragraphs for reasons people choose self-employment and its disadvantages, then connect each main idea to an explanation or example. Ensure that every paragraph reaches a complete point.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The response uses some relevant vocabulary for discussing work, including “self-employed,” “salary preference,” “team cooperation,” “leadership,” and “critical decision making.” This gives it some range beyond very basic wording. However, several spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, such as “chossin,” “convinient,” “Futhermore,” and “abiities.” Some expressions are also awkward or imprecise, including “individuals of having different thinking process” and “handling a department that is part of the organisation.” These choices sometimes make the intended meaning less clear. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling; for example, describe colleagues as having “different ways of thinking” and refer to “managing a department.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a sentence beginning “There are various factors to learn from being in an environment…” and one introduced by “For example.” However, control is uneven, and errors sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For instance, “Every individual have” has subject–verb disagreement; “Both views have their own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the employees’ interests” has an unclear reference; and “The company needs a new product for” is incomplete. The long sentence about learning in an organisation also lacks a clear grammatical structure. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, articles, and sentence endings before submitting.
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