Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-09

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 5.0)

The graph gives the information about the number of jobs in the four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020, the vertical axis represents jobs in millions and the horizontal axis represents the Year. There are four sectors of the economy like Manufacturing,Retail,Agriculture and healthcare. The economy of the manufacturing increased from 1960 and got the peak at the 1980 but after that it started to decrease and got its lowest point in the year 2020.The economy of the Retail decreased at first and got its maximum point in the year of the 2020 there is inverse relationship between the retail and the manufacturing.The economy of the agriculture started decreasing from 1960 to 1980 then remained constant to 2000 and then again decreased a lot from 2000 to 2020 at last the economy of the healthcare started to increase from the 1960 and its curve shows its peak and reached the maximum point at the 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies some key trends, such as the peak of manufacturing in 1980 and the growth of healthcare. However, the report lacks a clear overview of the main trends, which is essential for a Band 6 or higher. The description of the data is somewhat mechanical, and the analysis of the 'inverse relationship' between retail and manufacturing is a good attempt at comparison, but the overall summary is underdeveloped. To improve, ensure you include a clear introductory overview that highlights the most significant trends across the entire period rather than just listing data points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is written as a single paragraph, which makes it difficult to follow. IELTS Academic Task 1 requires clear paragraphing to separate the introduction/overview from the body paragraphs. While there are some attempts at cohesive devices, such as 'at last' and 'after that', the flow is repetitive and lacks sophisticated linking. The lack of paragraph breaks significantly hinders the logical progression of the information. Using transition words to group related trends (e.g., sectors that grew versus those that declined) would greatly improve the structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, with the phrase 'the economy of the' used incorrectly to refer to the number of jobs in specific sectors. The word 'economy' is misused here; it should refer to the sectors themselves (e.g., 'the manufacturing sector'). There is little evidence of less common lexical items or precise terminology related to data description. To achieve a higher score, you should use more varied verbs and nouns to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'plummeted', 'surged', or 'remained stable'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains several grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the manufacturing', 'the Retail') and prepositions ('at the 1980', 'in the year of the 2020'). Sentence structure is largely simple or repetitive, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences where commas or periods are missing. Improving control over basic grammar, such as subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles, is necessary to move to a higher band.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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