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 line graph illustrates how four economic sectors ( Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture and Healthcare) affect the number of employements in the US from 1960 to 2020. The units are measured in millions.

Overall, at the starting of period Manufacturing played a highest economic factor. However Retail economic sector was the most popular by the end of given period.It can be clearing seen that Agriculture saw a lowest affect as a economic sector where increase number of jobs.

With regards to the manufacturing sector, it begans with 15 millions jobs in 1960, rose significantly and reached a peak of 20 millions jobs in 1980, before falling dramatically to around at 14 millions in the last year. Similarly Retail economic sector followed this increasing trand from staring with 5 millions employements to peaked at approximetaly 16 millions jobs. likewise Healthcare commence with around 3 millions create jobs in starting year but and the end it increased substantially and reached exactally same with retail sector.

On the other hand, Agriculture showed decreased graph with begans from 5 millions job per yaer to decline at around 3 millions jobs per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to address the prompt by outlining the main trends in four economic sectors between 1960 and 2020. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the shift in prominence from Manufacturing to Retail and identifying Agriculture as having the lowest numbers. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reporting specific figures, such as stating manufacturing began with 15 million jobs when the graph shows a different starting point, and claiming healthcare reached the exact same level as retail by the end. The response covers all requested sectors and makes basic comparisons, but the inaccuracies in data interpretation pull the task achievement score down into the lower-middle range. Overall, the ideas are partially developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical layout consisting of an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the trends. Basic cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'With regards to the manufacturing sector', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and transitions are at times awkward or mechanical, as seen in phrases like 'at the starting of period' and 'it begans with'. Paragraphing is present and separates the information adequately, but the overall progression lacks smooth transitions between sentences. Repetitive sentence starters slightly hinder the natural flow of the description.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate basic trends, utilizing terms such as 'illustrates', 'rose significantly', 'falling dramatically', and 'peaked'. However, there are frequent word-form and spelling errors throughout the response, including 'employements' instead of employment, 'clearing' instead of clearly, 'trand' instead of trend, 'commence' instead of commenced, and 'approximetaly' instead of approximately. These lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'create jobs in starting year', reveal a limited control over less common lexical items, keeping the vocabulary score at a modest level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as using subordinate clauses introduced by 'before falling dramatically' and 'where increase number of jobs'. However, there are pervasive grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb tense and form consistency (e.g., 'begans with', 'saw a lowest affect', 'increased substantially and reached exactally same'). Punctuation is also occasionally neglected, and sentence structures can be clumsy and ungrammatical, such as 'Agriculture showed decreased graph with begans from'. While communication is rarely fully impeded, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

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

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