Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

In recent times, people have been prioritizing being self-employed and not working for a company or organization. They feel that being self-employed gives them more freedom than working for a company or organization. However, even self-employment comes with some disadvantages as well.

People are now tired of working for others. The older generation was fine with working for others, as they had fewer opportunities than the younger generation, who has access to the internet. The digitalization of the world has made it easier for people to work for themselves. The sheer number of people working as freelancers and owning their own businesses speaks volume for itself. On the other hand, people also felt chained to a 9 to 5 job. They could not get holidays to spend time with their families. People are struggling to find time for themselves, so they are choosing self-employment. For instance, the timings are flexible for people who are self-employed. They could take holidays and go out with their family on a vacation as well without any stress.

Although self-employment also causes some disadvantages. It is not something without a drawback. One of the biggest downsides of being self-employed would be that there is no sense of security. The next task or customer is not guaranteed. People are not sure whether they will earn next month or next day or not. It creates stress for people who are self-employed. Ironically, it feels like a person leaves one stressful environment only to enter another one. However, the advantages clearly outweigh the drawbacks of being self-employed.

To conclude, people are choosing self-employment because they have the opportunity to do so and also because of the flexible timings it provides. The main downside would be the constant pressure of landing a new client or customer.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear overall position: people value the freedom and flexibility of self-employment, while uncertain income and client availability are key disadvantages. The discussion of digital access and dissatisfaction with fixed working hours is relevant, and the example of taking holidays helps illustrate flexibility. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that the older generation had fewer opportunities is not connected in detail to why people now choose self-employment, and the disadvantages focus almost entirely on income insecurity. To strengthen the response, explain the causes and consequences of each main idea more fully and consider another drawback, such as having no paid leave or needing to manage business costs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates the main points. The progression from greater freedom to income insecurity is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “On the other hand” and “To conclude” help signal stages in the argument. Some connections are less smooth: “Although self-employment also causes some disadvantages” is a dependent clause presented as a complete sentence, and “However” before the final sentence of the disadvantages paragraph does not clearly express the relationship between the ideas. There is also some repetition of “self-employed” and “company or organization.” Use more precise referencing and vary transitions so that links between claims are clear rather than formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for explaining the topic, and phrases such as “sense of security,” “flexible,” and “constant pressure” communicate the main ideas clearly. There are also attempts at more expressive language, including “felt chained to a 9 to 5 job,” though this is somewhat informal for an academic essay. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise: “speaks volume for itself” should be “speaks volumes for itself,” while “the timings are flexible” is less natural than “working hours are flexible.” Repeated use of “people,” “self-employed,” and “company or organization” also limits range. Aim for more precise terms such as “independent workers,” “employment security,” and “irregular income,” while checking common collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “as,” “who,” and “so,” and most ideas remain clear. Some sentences are controlled, such as “The next task or customer is not guaranteed.” However, there are some grammatical errors and awkward constructions. “Although self-employment also causes some disadvantages” is not a complete sentence because “although” introduces a dependent clause; it could be joined to the next sentence. In “the younger generation, who has access,” the pronoun and verb agreement is inconsistent with the singular collective noun, and “They could take holidays” shifts from the present discussion to a past-form modal without a clear reason. Review clause completeness, agreement, and consistent tense or modal choices, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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