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)

It is argued that Now days many people choose to be self-employed, rather than to work for company or organisation , this essay will discuss the reasons of disadvantages of being self-employed .

In the one hand , there are several reasons why people choose to be self-employed for example they can choose the time to work and where they go and which places are comfortable for them to be in and how many hours they can work , perhaps this can help them and give them the opportunity to earn a lot of money better than working in company cause all the profits usually go to the owner and only 20 percent of money can the employer get and companies wont appreciate their hard work and always giving them low salary .

In the other hand , there are significant problems which self-employed can face for example bringing products and sell them this is not always can be profits and sometimes losing is part of the job .furthermore self-employed need huge capital for starting project or opening magazine or creating buisness but all this can passes in their lifes and getting experience because succeed need time and a lot of trying and must need patience , we can say welf-employed situation doesnt care if he gets sick and dont go for work cause all this will effects in him and wont sell his products . furthermore holidays vocation are forbidden for him

In conclusion , i can agree that working in companies is good idea for collecting money and grow your capital before start working as self-employed , at the same time having your own thing can be always better

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you explain that self-employment offers control over working hours and location, and you identify risks such as needing start-up capital, uncertain profits, and having no paid time off when ill. These are relevant points, but several are asserted rather than explained. For instance, the claim that employees receive only “20 percent” of the money is unclear and unsupported, while the disadvantages paragraph lists problems without showing their likely effects in detail. Your conclusion gives a qualified view, but the position is not fully clear because it says company work is a good way to build capital while owning a business “can be always better.” Develop each main idea with a clear explanation or example, and make your overall view consistent.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for reasons and disadvantages, and a conclusion. This helps the reader identify the two parts of the task. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven: the first body paragraph moves from flexibility to earnings and then to employers’ treatment of staff without clearly linking these points. Connectors such as “In the one hand” and “In the other hand” are inaccurate, and “furthermore” is repeated without always showing a precise relationship between ideas. Some sentences also contain several points joined by commas, making the sequence difficult to follow. Use accurate transitions, organise each paragraph around one central idea, and make links between claims explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “self-employed,” “profits,” “capital,” “salary,” and “patience,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes meaning unclear. For example, “bringing products and sell them” does not express the business activity naturally, “opening magazine” is unclear, and “holidays vocation” is not an appropriate phrase for time away from work. There are also spelling errors such as “buisness” and “welf-employed,” alongside repeated general words such as “good” and “things.” Build a more precise set of business-related expressions and check spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt longer sentences and use some subordinate clauses, for example “because all the profits usually go to the owner” and “if he gets sick and dont go for work.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in basic sentence construction frequently make the reader work to understand your meaning. Examples include “this is not always can be profits,” “all this can passes,” and “succeed need time”; these show problems with verb forms and sentence structure. Articles, agreement, and punctuation also need attention, as in “work for company” and the long comma-linked sentences. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then add one clause at a time, checking verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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