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 line graph evidently presents information about the number of jobs in various sectors of the US economy between 1960 and 2020.

Overall, manufacturing sector had seen a great decline, meanwhile, retail and healthcare sector had seen a magnificent acceptance.While, agricultural sector had seen a constant depression in the number of jobs.

By 1980 manufacutring sector had 20 millions jobs. Whereas, agricultural field has almost 4 million jobs.

Meanwhile, jobs in healthcare services had almost 5 million jobs and seen a great hike in job roles from 1980. By 2020, jobs in healthcare service reached around 15 million jobs.

Although, with constant increment retail sector reached around 15 million jobs by 2020.

However, manufacturing industry had peaked with 20 million jobs in 1980 and declined to almost 14 million jobs by 2020. Meanwhile, agriculture sector encountered almost a constant number of jobs from 1980 to 2020 with nearly 3 millions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to address all parts of the task by identifying the main trends and reporting figures across the four sectors between 1960 and 2020. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, stating that manufacturing declined while retail and healthcare grew, and agriculture remained depressed. However, there are some inaccuracies and contradictions in the data reported. For example, the student states that the manufacturing sector had 20 million jobs by 1980, but later repeats this and provides conflicting details regarding the starting points. Additionally, some data points are imprecise or awkwardly expressed. Consequently, while the prompt is addressed, the development of ideas lacks precision, placing this performance at Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into multiple paragraphs, including an introduction and an overview, though the paragraphing is somewhat fragmented with many very short, single-sentence paragraphs. Cohesive devices are attempted (e.g., 'Overall', 'Meanwhile', 'Although', 'However'), but their usage is sometimes repetitive or mechanically applied. Referencing and progression are occasionally unclear, as the logical flow between sentences and paragraphs is disrupted by abrupt shifts in data reporting. For instance, jumping between 1980 and 2020 without a smooth narrative thread makes the overall progression disjointed. This level of organisation aligns with Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing economic sectors and trends, such as 'decline', 'depression', 'hike', and 'increment'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'magnificent acceptance' (which is unnatural for describing growth in job sectors) and 'manufacutring' (spelling error). Other phrases like 'constant depression' and 'constant increment' show a limited ability to control less common lexical items effectively. Because the vocabulary choice occasionally impedes natural flow and contains errors that draw attention, a score of 5.5 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating introductory clauses and subordinators like 'Although' and 'While'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and prepositions, such as 'jobs in healthcare services had almost 5 million jobs' and 'agriculture sector encountered almost a constant number of jobs... with nearly 3 millions'. Punctuation and spacing errors are also present, such as missing spaces after periods and commas (e.g., 'While, agricultural'). The majority of sentences contain minor to moderate errors, though they do not completely obscure the overall meaning, justifying a band score of 5.0.

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

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