Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-28

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 information about different kind of employement facilities in manufacturing, reatil, agriculture and healthcare of US economy till 1960 to 2020.

Overall, the graph shows four sectors in which number of participants increase or decrease with the passage of time. While jobs in health care and retail significant rose from 1960 to onward but manufacturing and agriculture drop.

Starting with medical services 2.5 million are there by 1960 in cotrast Agriculture sector begin with 6 million jobs but decrease steadily. In 1980 Health care jobs are much higher than farming jobs and by the end of 2020 around 16 million jobs are avaliable ratherthan agriculture have 2.5 million anually jobs.

While seeing in detail, Manufacturing jobs begin with approximately 15 million and retail jobs with 6 million, however Retail jobs grew and manfucturer jobs start declining, whereas in 2010 retail and manufacturing jobs were same at the time but ratail jobs increase by the of 2020 and manufacture jobs decrease.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies the main trends. However, the overview is somewhat weak; it describes the trends in general terms but lacks a clear summary of the most significant changes. The data reporting is occasionally inaccurate, such as stating that healthcare and retail 'significant rose' from 1960, whereas the graph shows retail starting lower and growing later. Additionally, some figures are imprecise or misread, such as the claim that manufacturing and retail were the same in 2010. While the main features are addressed, the lack of precision in data interpretation prevents a higher score.

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 often mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'While seeing in detail' and 'ratherthan agriculture have'. The progression of ideas is sometimes disjointed, particularly in the final paragraph where the comparison between manufacturing and retail becomes confusing. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences is hindered by awkward phrasing, which makes the overall logical progression feel somewhat forced rather than natural.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'increase', 'decrease', and 'jobs'. There are several spelling errors, such as 'employement', 'reatil', 'manfucturer', and 'ratail', which are distracting. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, but the word choice is often imprecise, such as 'employement facilities' instead of 'employment sectors'. The range is just adequate to convey the basic meaning, but the frequent errors in spelling and word formation limit the effectiveness of the communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but these are frequently marred by grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('jobs... is', 'retail... increase'), missing articles, and awkward sentence construction ('2.5 million are there by 1960'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence structure prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. The errors are noticeable and occasionally cause the reader to pause.

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