Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-27
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 graph illustrates the jobs in four economic sectors of the US between the years 1960 and 2020. The number of jobs are shown in millions.
Overall, both agriculture and retail were at their lowest in the beginning; rose to the highest point by the end of the period. On the contrary, manufacturing sector underwent a huge declined.
In the year 1960, manufacturing industry has the most number of jobs of 15 million. Later, from 1980 it encountered downfall and reached 13 million in 2020. In the same year jobs agricultural sector slowly lowered, Healthcare skyrocketed to the highest jobs of 16 million.
Although, retail and agriculture industries were at the same point in the start their trends were opposite. Retail industry peaked to 13 million similar to agriculture sector . However, agriculture had many fluctuations and further collapsed to 2 million jobs to the end of the period consisting the least number of jobs among all four sectors.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the graph, but there are significant inaccuracies in the data reporting. For example, you state that agriculture and retail 'rose to the highest point by the end of the period,' which contradicts the visual data showing agriculture declining significantly. Additionally, the claim that manufacturing 'underwent a huge declined' is imprecise, as the graph shows a relatively stable trend with a slight decrease. The overview is somewhat confusing due to these factual errors. To improve, ensure that your summary accurately reflects the trends shown in the graph rather than misinterpreting the data points.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or misused. For instance, the phrase 'On the contrary' is used to introduce the manufacturing trend, but it does not logically contrast with the preceding sentence about agriculture and retail. Furthermore, the transition 'Although, retail and agriculture industries were at the same point' is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow. Improving the variety and accuracy of linking words will help create a more logical progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'skyrocketed,' 'fluctuations,' and 'economic sectors.' However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'huge declined' (should be 'huge decline') and 'most number of jobs' (should be 'highest number of jobs'). These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the precision of your writing. To reach a higher band, focus on using nouns and verbs correctly and expanding your range of reporting verbs beyond basic terms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Subject-verb agreement is inconsistent, such as 'The number of jobs are shown' (should be 'is shown') and 'manufacturing industry has' (should be 'had'). There are also issues with tense consistency and article usage, such as 'to the end of the period' (should be 'by the end of the period'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall clarity of the writing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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