Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-04

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The line graph below shows the number of people employed in four industries in Australia between 2000 and 2020.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Employment in four Australian industries

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The line graph illustrates the number of employee in four industrial sectors in Australia between 2000 and 2020 timeline.

Overall, healthcare and social assistance showed a sharp increase in number in these twenty years and manufacturing sector declined in a consistent rate in the whole timeline. The growth in number of employee was overall steady in retail trade sector. Construction field showed a sharp increase in 2000 to 2008 and after this year it consistently increased.

In healthcare and social assistance sector, the lowest number of employee was approximately 900 thousands in 2000 and the highest number was 1800 thousands in 2020. In retail trade sector, this number increased at a considerable rate from approximately 1200 to 1480 in these two decades. Manufacturing employers decreased from 1100 to 700 in 2000 to 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main upward trend in healthcare and the decline in manufacturing, and your overview also notes growth in retail and construction. However, coverage is incomplete: construction is not supported with figures, and the final manufacturing figure is reported as 700, whereas the graph shows about 850 thousand. Retail ends at approximately 1,450 thousand, not 1,480, though this is a relatively small difference. The response also falls 17 words short of the required minimum, which limits the detail available. To strengthen the report, include the construction figures and compare how the sectors change in rank—for example, healthcare overtakes manufacturing and retail by 2020—and ensure all key values match the graph.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph giving figures for individual sectors. This makes the main trends easy to locate. The overview also provides a useful organising summary before the details. However, the final paragraph covers healthcare, retail and manufacturing but omits construction, so the information is not balanced across the four series. Some links are also repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “In … sector,” and “after this year” is an imprecise reference to 2008. Grouping sectors by trend, then using clear time references such as “from 2008 onwards,” would create smoother progression and more effective cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “sharp increase,” “declined,” “steady,” and “approximately,” which helps communicate the broad trends. There is some variety in describing change, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural: “number of employee,” “in a consistent rate,” and “Construction field” do not fit this context well. “Manufacturing employers decreased” also changes the meaning, since the graph shows the number of people employed, not the number of employers. Use precise sector and employment terms consistently, such as “employment in manufacturing fell” and “the construction industry.” This would make the report clearer and more appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You produce a mix of simple statements and longer sentences, and the overall meaning is generally understandable. However, some grammatical errors recur in noun forms, articles and sentence construction. For example, “the number of employee” should use a plural noun, while “in these twenty years” and “between 2000 and 2020 timeline” are not well-formed time expressions. The sentence “Manufacturing employers decreased from 1100 to 700 in 2000 to 2020” also has an unclear comparison structure. Practise accurate patterns such as “the number of people employed rose from X in 2000 to Y in 2020” and check agreement, plurals and prepositions. More consistently controlled complex sentences would improve accuracy.

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