Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The line graph illustrates the information about the jobs in 4 different economic field in the America commencing from 1960 in 60 years.

At the first glance, the Healthcare and retail has a upward growth but in manufacturing and agriculture decline in the growth.

first of all, Healthcare and retail both of these has an upward trend in all these years

In 2020 both of their number reached at almost 16 millions jobs as commared to 1960 this values was very negligible.

on the other hand, manufacturing was at the top at the starting year which is 15 millions jobs and this figure wrose up to 20 millions but after 1980 this value decline in to the up comming years. In agriculture sector their was also no progress and in 1960 its jobs applicants at 5 but in the next 20 years this figure decreased to 3 millions after that their was only few minor fluctuation until 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the task by outlining the main trends in the four economic sectors between 1960 and 2020. However, the overview is extremely weak and poorly formulated, beginning abruptly with 'At the first glance'. Several data points are inaccurate or poorly communicated, such as stating that manufacturing reached '20 millions' (it peaked lower on standard graphs) and claiming agriculture job applicants were 'at 5' in 1960. While the general trajectories of healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and agriculture are touched upon, the lack of a clear, coherent overview and the presence of inaccurate data points mean the response only partially satisfies the requirements. Therefore, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The organization of the response is disjointed and lacks proper paragraphing. The student writes fragmented, short sentences starting with colloquial or repetitive phrases such as 'first of all' and 'In 2020 both of their number'. There is no clear overall progression or logical sequencing of information, making the text read like a series of disconnected bullet points rather than a cohesive report. Cohesive devices are either missing or applied mechanically, leading to a choppy reading experience. Referencing is also weak, with pronouns like 'their' and 'this' frequently lacking clear antecedents. These organizational and cohesive shortcomings align well with the Band 4 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and restricted to simple terms like 'jobs', 'sector', 'growth', and 'decline'. The student makes multiple word-choice and collocation errors, such as referring to economic fields as 'economic field' and stating that agriculture 'jobs applicants at 5'. Other errors include spelling and morphological mistakes like 'wrose up' instead of rose up and 'up comming years'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic topic of employment numbers, the frequent errors and restricted range constrain the lexical score to a band 4.5, rounded to 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are simple or attempt complex forms that are heavily flawed, such as 'commencing from 1960 in 60 years' and 'this values was very negligible'. There are persistent errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Healthcare and retail has', 'manufacturing ... decline') and tense usage. Punctuation is also problematic, with run-on sentences and a lack of proper comma usage. Because the structural range is severely restricted and errors are frequent enough to cause difficulty for the reader, the grammar performance sits squarely at band 4.5, rounded to 5.0.

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