Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-07

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

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

Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The line graph illustrates number of jobs in manufacturing,retail,agriculture and healthcare over the period of 1960 to 2020.

overall, manufacturing had decline over the years in contrast to healthcare having a steady growth.on the other hand retail maintained the steady growth over the years.

Sales had steady growth between 1960 to 2000 of five millions jobs, after 2000 on onward it maintained steady growth of 15 million jobs. In humanities jobs increased 5 million in year 1980 furthermore maintained growth after 1980, by 2020 it crosseda round 17 million jobs.

From 1960 till 1980 jobs in production reached 20 million after the year 1980 their was steady decline by 2020 of 13 million jobs.On the other hand farming declined from 1960 to 2020 reaching around 1 million jobs

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the four sectors and report several major trends: manufacturing peaks at 20 million before falling, while healthcare rises and agriculture declines. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: retail does not grow steadily throughout, since its increase slows after 2000, and healthcare reaches about 16 million, not “around 17 million.” The statement that retail had “15 million jobs” after 2000 confuses its 2000 figure with its 2020 figure. Agriculture ends at about 2 million, rather than 1 million. The response also contains 128 words, below the required 150, so the trends and comparisons are underdeveloped. Include a clearer overview and accurate endpoint comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation: an opening identifies the graph, an overview follows, and the remaining sentences describe individual sectors. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is weakened by unclear references and abrupt shifts. For example, “Sales” is not an appropriate or clear reference to retail jobs, while “In humanities jobs” makes the subject difficult to identify. The overview repeats “steady growth,” and connectors such as “furthermore” and “On the other hand” do not always show the relationship between the data accurately. Grouping the rising sectors together and the declining sectors together, with one paragraph for each, would create a clearer progression. Use precise sector names rather than vague references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary includes relevant terms such as “decline,” “steady growth,” and “reached,” which help describe trends. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or awkward for this chart. “Sales” does not describe the number of retail jobs, and “production” and “farming” are less precise than the graph’s labels, manufacturing and agriculture. Phrases such as “maintained the steady growth” and “crossed around 17 million” are also unnatural or unclear. Spacing and spelling issues, including “crosseda round,” further reduce clarity. Use a consistent set of accurate sector labels and practise collocations such as “rose to,” “fell to,” and “remained stable” to describe the figures precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentences, but control is inconsistent, which sometimes makes relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “manufacturing had decline,” where the verb form is faulty, and “after the year 1980 their was steady decline,” which contains an incorrect there/their form and an incomplete article pattern. Several sentences also lack clear punctuation or capitalisation, such as the overview beginning “overall” and the run-on wording around “growth.on the other hand.” Articles, prepositions, and sentence boundaries need more reliable control. Build accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with clauses such as “while” or “whereas”; check verb forms and punctuation before finishing.

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