Band 9 model answer
The traditional model of a single, lifelong employer is steadily giving way to a world of freelancers, contractors and one-person enterprises. While this shift brings undeniable freedoms, I believe its overall value is mixed, hinging on how well societies adapt their safety nets to the new reality.
The case for independent work is compelling. Freelancers enjoy a degree of autonomy that salaried staff can only envy: they choose their projects, set their own hours and answer to no single boss. For those with marketable skills, this can mean higher earnings and the satisfaction of building something personal. The arrangement also lets employers scale their workforce flexibly and gives the wider economy a reservoir of specialised talent that can be deployed where it is most needed.
Yet these freedoms come tethered to real insecurity. Without a steady salary, the self-employed shoulder the full weight of irregular income, unpaid sickness and absent pensions, while the boundary between work and rest can dissolve entirely. Many who turn to freelancing do so not by choice but because secure jobs have evaporated, and for them the romantic language of independence masks genuine precarity.
My conclusion, therefore, is cautiously balanced. Freelancing can be liberating for the skilled and well-supported, yet damaging for those left exposed without protection. Whether the trend proves positive depends less on the work itself than on whether governments extend portable benefits and basic security to those outside conventional employment. With such reforms, flexible work could enrich society; without them, it risks deepening inequality.
Examiner’s notes
- Task Response: rather than a flat positive or negative verdict, the essay argues a conditional position ('depends... on whether governments extend portable benefits'), a nuanced answer that still fully addresses the prompt.
- Coherence and Cohesion: the pivot from upside to downside is handled by 'Yet these freedoms come tethered to real insecurity', and the conclusion ties both threads to a single condition.
- Lexical Resource: high-level items such as 'reservoir of specialised talent', 'precarity' and 'portable benefits' demonstrate sophisticated, context-appropriate vocabulary.