Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 graph illustrates the presentation of number of employments in four distinct sectors in the US, from 1960 to 2020.

Over all, Manufacturing was significantly higher than the others in begenning, which was replaced by healthcare an retail sectors in the ending year . Conversely, health care was at bottom and shows major fluctuations during the entire period .

In 1960, Manufacturing sector was having 15 millions of jobs .Following this, it shows a considerable rose hitting a peak of 20 millions of job in 1980 , which became highest in the duration , Subsequently , downwards trend was seen reacing just below 15 millions of jobs in 2020. Similarly, this trend was followed by Agricultural sector, which was dropping from just above 5 millions jobs in 1960 to lower than 5 millions in 1980 which was slighlity down to approximately 3 millions in 2020 making it a least contibutor.

On the other hand, upwards trend was followed by Retail and healthcare sectors .

Retail sector was just above 5 millions in 1960 and significantly rose to 10 millions in 1980 and further to just above 15 millions in 2020 which was equal to the healthcare sector, marking the significant contibutors . Healthcare was at bottom in 1960 with nealry 3 millions jobs and shown drastic increase to 10 millions which was followed by 15 miilions and more or less 12 millions in the years 2000 and 2020 respectively .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the four economic sectors between 1960 and 2020 and makes relevant comparisons. An overview is provided, noting the shifting dominance from manufacturing to healthcare and retail, and key data points such as the peak of manufacturing in 1980 (20 million jobs) are correctly highlighted. However, there are some minor data inaccuracies and over-generalizations in reporting specific figures (for example, stating that healthcare reached 15 million and more or less 12 million in 2020 when interpreting the chart trends). Overall, the response addresses the prompt adequately, earning a band score of 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged logically with a clear introduction, overview paragraph, and body paragraphs dedicated to contrasting groups of sectors. Cohesive devices such as 'Conversely', 'In 1960', 'Following this', and 'On the other hand' are used to structure the information, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or are impacted by mechanical errors (e.g., 'Over all', 'begenning'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of trends. Referencing is generally clear, though occasional awkward phrasing affects seamless progression. This aligns with the descriptors for a band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to economic trends such as 'fluctuations', 'peak', 'downwards trend', and 'contributor'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'employments', 'begenning', 'an retail', 'reacing', 'contibutor', 'slighlity', and 'nealry'. Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision and accuracy. These errors do not seriously impede communication but restrict the score to a band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using relative clauses ('which was replaced by...', 'which was dropping from...') and participial phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors with subject-verb agreement and tense usage, such as 'Manufacturing sector was having', 'it shows a considerable rose', 'Healthcare... shown drastic increase', and punctuation or spacing issues around commas and periods. While communication is maintained, the frequency of errors prevents the grammar score from reaching a higher band. A band score of 5.0 is appropriate here.

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