Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-24

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 comparison between number of jobs in manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare sectors in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, it provides us the information about fluctuation in four organizations of economy due to numbers of jobs in year between 1960 to 2020. In 1960, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors jobs rised continuously while in manufacturing department jobs peaked at 1980, afterwards it started to decline and reached at lowest level in 2020. On the other hand in retail and healthcare sectors the demand of jobs surged continuously and reached at peak in 2020, remained at the same level.However, in Agriculture area jobs were at peaked in 1960, and after that the demand of jobs started to decline and were at lowest level in 1980. The number of jobs surged continuously in healthcare and retail departments while jobs in agriculture sector continues to drop in all these years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies the main trends, such as the decline in manufacturing and agriculture versus the growth in healthcare and retail. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. The description of the trends is occasionally inaccurate; for instance, stating that manufacturing jobs 'rised continuously' in 1960 is contradictory to the data, and the claim that healthcare and retail 'remained at the same level' at the end is not supported by the graph. The overview is repetitive and lacks a clear synthesis of the data, which prevents it from reaching a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into two paragraphs, but the logical flow is hindered by repetitive phrasing and awkward transitions. While cohesive devices like 'On the other hand' and 'However' are used, they are sometimes placed incorrectly or do not effectively link the ideas. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly when referring to the sectors as 'four organizations of economy'. The progression of ideas is mechanical, and the lack of clear paragraphing between the overview and the body details makes the structure feel somewhat disjointed.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. Words like 'jobs', 'sectors', and 'surged' are used frequently, and there are errors in word choice, such as 'organizations of economy' instead of 'economic sectors' or 'industries'. The phrase 'rised continuously' is a grammatical error involving word formation. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is insufficient to demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands. More precise terminology related to data description, such as 'fluctuated', 'plummeted', or 'plateaued', is needed.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. There are issues with verb tense consistency ('rised' instead of 'rose'), article usage ('in Agriculture area'), and sentence structure. The use of 'r' instead of 'are' is an informal error that should be avoided in an academic task. While there is an attempt at complex sentence structures, they are often faulty or contain errors in prepositional usage. The majority of sentences contain minor errors, which limits the score in this criterion.

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