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 shows the ratio of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the Us between 1960 and 2020
Overall,The manufacturing has largest propotion. However, it rise till 1980 then fell in the end of 2020. The retail and healthcare rose consistently throughout the period and having same numbers in the end. As for agriculture industry we saw gradual decline from 1980.
Manufacturing starts with 15 million jobs in 1960 and rise to 20 million in 1980, but the number drops from 2000 and remain on almost 13 million at the end of 2020. Retail industry climbed from 6 million in 1960 to 15 million in 2020. Healthcare has minor contribution from all in 1960. HHowever, it reaches 5 million in 1980 and in 2000 it has more then 10 million job holders. The number of healthcare reaches to 15 million as same as retail in 2020. Agriculture remain the lower at the end of 2020. It starts with six million but the numbers drops to only 2 million. At the end retail and healthcare dominates and agriculture remains the smallest sector.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all parts of the task well by identifying and comparing the main trends across all four economic sectors shown in the graph. The overview successfully highlights the dominance of the manufacturing sector, the consistent rise of retail and healthcare, and the decline of agriculture. Specific data points are cited to support these descriptions, such as manufacturing starting with 15 million jobs in 1960 and peaking at 20 million in 1980, and retail climbing to 15 million by 2020. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting the data, such as stating that manufacturing fell in the end of 2020 when it dropped earlier, and minor omissions in fully detailing some intermediary trends. Despite these slight flaws, the core requirements of Task 1 are met effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall arrangement with an introductory paragraph, an overview, and body paragraphs that separate the data into logical categories. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall,' 'However,' and 'As for,' although some referencing and transitions are a bit mechanical or faulty, such as starting a new body paragraph with 'Manufacturing starts' without sufficient transitional integration. Paragraphing is attempted, though the division could be structured more cleanly. Information flows with reasonable logic, but the lack of fully polished cohesive links places this response firmly in the band 6 range.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating terms such as 'proportion', 'consistently', 'gradual decline', and 'dominates'. However, there are several lexical errors and inappropriate word choices throughout the text, such as 'the ratio of jobs' instead of 'the number of jobs', 'has largest propotion' with a spelling error and missing article, and 'Healthcare has minor contribution from all' which lacks precision. Less common lexical items are attempted with occasional inaccuracy, which corresponds to the band 6 descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like 'The graph shows...' and 'Although...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses, such as missing capitalization ('Us', 'HHowever'), missing punctuation before conjunctions, subject-verb agreement issues ('it rise till 1980', 'Agriculture remain the lower'), and incorrect tense usage ('Manufacturing starts' in the present tense within a past-tense context). While these errors occur frequently, they rarely impede overall communication, supporting a band 5.5 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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