Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14

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 graph illustrates the amount of jobs available in four areas, between 1990 to 2020. It includes manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare sectors.

The jobs in manufacturing sector rises till 1980 from 15 million to 20 million. From there onwards, there is a steady decline till 2020, stopping at 13 million jobs.

However both, the retail and agriculture sectors, show a gradual increase in the number of jobs. The jobs available in retail in the year 1960 are 6 million. Till the year 2020 it rises till 16 million. A similar trend is observed for healthcare. The job market rises from 3 million in 1960 to 16 million in 2020.

In contrast to healthcare and retail sectors, the jobs in agriculture gradually decline. It goes down from 6 million in 1960 to 3 million in 2020.

Overall, approximately the most amount of jobs are in maufacturing department, followed by retail and healthcare. The least amount of jobs are recorded in the agriculture department.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response successfully covers all four economic sectors shown in the graph and provides an overview. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data. For example, the student states that the graph starts in 1990 in the introduction, whereas the graph clearly shows data starting from 1960. Furthermore, the description of agriculture is slightly confused; the text states that agriculture goes down from 6 million in 1960 to 3 million in 2020, but the agriculture sector actually starts around 30 million in 1960 and declines significantly (the student appears to have mixed up the agriculture and retail figures in places). Despite these data reporting errors, the main trends are identified and an overview is provided. This performance aligns best with the Band 5 descriptors, as the task is addressed only partially due to noticeable inaccuracies in data representation and a misstated timeframe.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by body paragraphs detailing specific sectors, and concluding with an overview. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'A similar trend', and 'In contrast' are used to connect ideas between sentences and paragraphs. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate different sectors of the economy. However, referencing and progression are sometimes affected by the data confusion noted in task achievement. Overall arrangement is coherent and easy to follow, representing a solid Band 6 performance where the overall structure works well despite occasional mechanical or faulty links.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with domain-specific terms such as 'manufacturing', 'retail', 'agriculture', 'healthcare', and 'sector'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary and collocation, such as 'steady decline', 'gradual increase', and 'job market'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling errors, such as using 'amount of jobs' instead of 'number of jobs', and a spelling error in the conclusion ('maufacturing'). These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 6, where the student demonstrates an adequate range for the task with some inaccuracies in word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing introductory prepositional phrases and comparative structures. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing instances, such as 'The jobs in manufacturing sector rises' (subject-verb agreement error and missing article) and 'However both, the retail and agriculture sectors, show' (incorrect comma placement). Additionally, tense consistency is occasionally unsteady. However, these errors rarely impede communication and the basic meaning remains clear throughout the response. This performance fits comfortably into Band 6, featuring a mix of sentence structures alongside some frequent minor grammatical errors.

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