Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-31

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 given line chart depicts the information related to the number of employment in different sectors in America from 1960 to 2020.

Overall, healthcare sector was the only sector which was increased throughout the period of time and at last leads to the higher number of jobs among other services in America.However, agriculture area down fall

with the passing of years.

Looking at the details, manufacturing sector provided 15million jobs in 1960,inclined to 20million till 1980 afterwards down fall started in sector and finally came to almost 12million in 2020.Moreover,retail services started from 5million jobs in 1960 ,it rose to 15million till 2000 after that slightly increased in number of jobs occured till 2020.

By contrast, agriculture sector was the only sector which showed a great declined level from 5million jobs in starting to qlmost2million jobs at last given year.

Healthcare started from very low amount of jobs in 1960 then rose ithroughout the period finally reached to more than 15million and became the highest amount of work in latest year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all four sectors and identifies the main trends, such as the growth in healthcare and the decline in agriculture. However, the overview is slightly inaccurate; for instance, it claims healthcare was the only sector to increase, whereas the data shows retail also experienced growth. The description of the manufacturing sector is clear, but the overall summary lacks the precision required for a higher band. The report is well-structured, but some data points are slightly vague or misstated, which prevents it from fully meeting the criteria for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the trends. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'By contrast', and 'However' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The progression of ideas is generally clear, moving from a general overview to specific sectoral details. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the flow between sentences could be improved to sound more natural and less like a list of data points.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'employment', 'sectors', 'inclined', and 'down fall'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'down fall started in sector' and 'great declined level'. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and avoiding informal phrasing. Spelling errors, such as 'qlmost2million', also detract from the overall quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Examples include missing articles ('healthcare sector', 'manufacturing sector'), incorrect verb forms ('was the only sector which was increased'), and punctuation issues. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. The student needs to focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to achieve a higher score.

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

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