Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-23

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 the data about the number of employments in different four sectors of economy in the US over the 60 years between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, it is evident that Manufacturing sector was at highest point at starting which rosed more and then declined.While, the Healthcare sector was at bottom point and increased significantly over the period.Agriculture and Retail were at same level. However, the Agriculture decreased rapidly and Retail surged up throughout the years.

In 1960, the Manufacturing jobs were at 15million which was at top level and soared to 20million in 1980 afterthen plummeted to nearly 13million in 2020.Whereas, the Healthcare employments were approximately 3million in 1960 and escalated to 16million in 2020.

On the contrary, the Agriculture and Retail sectors jobs were at 6millions in 1960 meanwhile Agriculture jobs decreased gradually to 3million in 2020 and Retail employments sharply boost to 16million in 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies the main trends, such as the rise of Healthcare and the decline of Manufacturing. However, the overview is slightly inaccurate; for example, stating that Manufacturing 'rosed' (rose) and then declined is a bit simplistic, and the claim that Agriculture and Retail were at the same level in 1960 is correct, but the description of the trends could be more precise. The data points are generally accurate, but the summary lacks a clear synthesis of the most significant changes, which is required for a higher band. The response meets the minimum length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'In 1960', and 'On the contrary', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the referencing is occasionally awkward, such as 'While, the Healthcare sector was at bottom point', where the use of 'While' is grammatically incorrect as a sentence starter. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the specific data points.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several instances of awkward word choices or non-standard collocations, such as 'number of employments' (should be 'number of jobs' or 'employment levels') and 'at top level'. The student attempts to use some descriptive verbs like 'soared', 'plummeted', and 'escalated', which is positive, but the overall range is limited. Spelling is generally accurate, but the word choice errors occasionally make the text sound unnatural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Manufacturing sector was at highest point'), incorrect verb forms ('rosed' instead of 'rose', 'boost' instead of 'boosted'), and missing articles ('at bottom point'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the placement of commas after introductory phrases. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.